The Brightest Witch of Her Age
by bitchinblackframedglasses
Summary: It's fifth year at Hogwarts, and Hermione is feeling the pressure of keeping up with school. When she gets into a spat with another Gryffindor genius, sparks will fly...or will they? All Canon -slight nerdiness- NO SLASH
1. Chapter 1

1

Hermione POV

I sat anxiously in class, watching Professor Snape sweeping around the room, handing back essays. I had worked so hard on this essay- it was on moonstones, and despite having to help out Harry and Ron, I felt strong about the essay I had turned in. Jittery, I felt my fingers tapping on the tabletop. What was taking him so long to get over here? Did he lose my paper? Would I have to write it again? Snape finally plopped my essay on my desk in a bored fashion as he walked by, and I seized it immediately. Frantic, I unrolled the scroll and looked at my grade. My breath went out in a rush, staring in horror at the grade that was like a slap to the face. It wasn't full marks. It was two points away from perfect. "What's with you, Hermione?" Ron asked, taking one look at his essay, scowling, and shoving it unceremoniously into his bag. I stared at my paper, still in shock. _Why?_ I had worked so hard!

"It's," I swallowed, angry with myself for not achieving perfection. Ridiculous frustration filled me up, making me want to cry. "It's nothing."

"Ok," Ron said, oblivious, especially because now he was in a bad mood. He slumped in his chair, his ears turning slightly red in his disgruntlement.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked in an undertone, frowning at his essay, rolling it back up and sticking it in his bag. Snape had given him crap over his Draught of Peace, which was the potion day that had sparked the moonstone essay. I assumed that Snape had flunked him on the essay, too.

"It doesn't make much sense, but I'm not happy with the grade." I muttered, and Harry looked at me with some confusion, but also with a kind of fondness that let me knew that he wasn't going to be like Ron and yell at me for being smart. Smiling, he shook his head a little, picking up his potions book and putting that in his bag too. I followed suit, my mood steadily getting blacker.

"Oh, _Merlin,_ Sarah." A boy groaned loudly. I looked briefly over my shoulder. Sarah, the only other Gryffindor who was as smart as me was scowling and blushing at the same time, trying to snatch her essay back from one of her friends, Luke, I think his name was. He had it high above his head, squinting at it, his long arm keeping Sarah from snatching the essay back. I felt my eyes narrow. Sarah Wimkil and I had been neck in neck since forever, even though we looked like complete opposites. My hair was huge, hers was _always_ in braids. She wore glasses, I didn't. Her work seemed effortless, and I felt like I was always stressed to do well. Sarah tried to jump for her essay, but her friend shoved her easily back down with a patronizing laugh, almost knocking off her glasses.

"Not full points _again!_ Now I owe Luke five Galleons!" The girl on the other side of Sarah groaned, doing a mock face-palm, but I could clearly see the giant grin on her face under her hand as she snickered.

"Then you shouldn't bet on me." Sarah chided her, trying not to smile, having to get up and stretch to take her essay back. Suddenly, I was furious. We had always been equal. Why did she get full points? What did she have that I didn't? _Why was her essay better than mine? _Deep dislike spread through me for Sarah. It was _on. _I had never challenged her before, but enough was enough. There could only be one valedictorian, and I wanted it to be me. Sharp jealousy made me whip back around to face the front, snatching up a quill to distract myself, trying not to snap at her. Now that I thought about it, she had always annoyed me.

"Settle down," Snape snapped before I could say something, and Sarah's friends stopped messing around. Silently seething at myself and Sarah, I threw myself into the lesson, taking notes on everything. I couldn't miss a thing. "For Thursday…research a Confusing or Befuddlement Concoction, identify the ingredients, and their effects in the potion. Class dismissed." Snape ended class with an assignment, raising groans from everyone except me and perhaps Sarah.

"Merlin, not another assignment," Ron whined, packing up his bag. I barely resisted the urge to smack him. Ron never worked hard on his homework and it would make me go crazy some day, I knew it. He would bitch and moan about how he never did well, but did nothing to ameliorate his grades.

"This is in your textbook, Ron. It's relatively easy." I sighed, swinging my bag on my shoulder and pushing in my chair.

"Sarah, please, to leave some money to my name, _please_ screw up this assignment." Danielle teased her friend, poking her hard in the shoulder. Sarah slapped her hand away, frowning.

"I told you not to bet on me." She said flatly, and Luke started to make 'ooohhh' noises, mocking her now slightly bad mood. "Hey, hey, you aren't so bad at Potions yourself, Luke." Sarah pressed as they walked past. Luke reached over and yanked on one of her long braids going down her back, making her yelp. Their happy chatter echoed up the staircase as we ascended out of the dungeons, a stark contrast to my mood. The day was filled with nothing but homework assignments, lightening my bad temper. I had a chance to redeem myself, to beat out Sarah in a whole new round of assignments. The boys were both miserable about it though- Harry because he had detention with Umbridge, and Ron because of the homework. Homework took up the whole night, but it didn't bother me. It was so fascinating, and the rush I got from understanding and learning made me go to bed happy.

The next day, both of the boys were in terrible moods, so I stayed silent more than I actually talked to them. Harry's temper scared me sometimes, and I could already feel it building as we walked to Defense Against the Dark Arts. "Please, Harry," I spoke for the first time in a long time before we went inside, catching his arm to make him wait. "Please try to keep your temper!" Harry shrugged, still clearly frustrated, and walked inside. The first thing I saw was Sarah, who was doing homework where she sat, her friends laughing and throwing parchment at her. I immediately bristled with dislike.

"Bullseye!" Danielle giggled, throwing a piece of parchment and getting Sarah right in the face, knocking her glasses askew.

"For Merlin's sake!" She hissed, exasperated, gathering all of the parchment balls lying around her and pelting her friends with them, trying not to laugh. "You know I have to finish this essay-"

"That's just your rough draft, and it's not due until Thursday. Seriously, Sarah, stop being so nerdy." Luke whined. The sound grated my nerves and Sarah's teeth clenched for a second.

"But writing a rough draft is a better use of my time than reading a textbook for first years." Sarah scoffed, settling back down and picking up her quill. I saw Umbridge look up, smiling sweetly at the indirect insult to her teaching. However, she only scribbled a note and went back to what she was doing. When the rest of the students came in, she started class as usual, leaving us to read. Barely ten minutes into the lesson, Umbridge coughed: _hem hem._ Everyone looked up, confused, except for Sarah. Her eyes were still scanning at the page in front of her.

"Miss Wimkil?" She asked sweetly, and Sarah looked up with a frown. "What do you have tucked into your textbook?"

"An essay." She responded rather flatly, and Umbridge smiled sweetly. The affect on her face made her look like a hyped up drag queen; hideous.

"There is no essay assigned for this class." Her voice dripped honey, but Sarah scowled, obviously not intimidated.

"It's an essay for Potions that I was working on before class." She explained. Umbridge tutted, smiling wider. I felt a chill go up my back at the look on Umbridge's face.

"Give me that, Miss Wimkil. In my class, you will not have out other materials other than your textbook." She extended her hand for it, and Sarah's eyes flashed.

"What if I have already read this chapter, Professor?" She challenged. "The information isn't at a fifth grade level- it's not that hard to retain. It would be a better use of my time to work on an essay that will count for something." Silence spread through the room after her words, and Umbridge's jaw clenched for a moment, before smiling again- even though it was obviously forced.

"Detention, Miss Wimkil. Do not ever question me again. Now, _hand me your essay._" She insisted, and Sarah stood up, stiffly walked over, handed it to her, then stalked back to her seat. "Continue on," Umbridge said sweetly to the silent and shocked classroom. I pretended to go back to reading, but I found myself feeling sorry for Sarah. All of her work was now for naught. If that had happened to me, I would have burst into tears. In an open act of defiance, Sarah didn't look at her book once for the rest of the lesson and just stared off into space, her fists clenched in her lap. At the end, Umbridge called for her to stay behind, and the rest of us gladly streamed out of there as fast as we could. As soon as kids were out of earshot, they started gossiping and laughing about the look on Umbridge's face.

Some good did come out of the lesson, though. I knew Sarah would be behind now on her homework, and it kept Harry out of trouble for at least one class period. That night in the Common Room, I helped Ron with his homework while I did mine, keeping an eye out for Harry and Sarah. I knew that I was being foolish- I mean, who sees a fellow student as a threat to their grades? Well, I did. In fact, as soon as dinner was over, I was back at it. I kept an eye out for Harry and Sarah, but it was nearly ten o' clock before either of them returned. Harry actually returned first, scowling, and threw himself into the chair across from me. "Lines, again?" I asked, and he nodded, rubbing the back of his hand through his shirt.

"That stupid toad." He mumbled, grabbing his bag to start his homework. Speaking of homework…Sarah came in and sat down at a table, rubbing the back of her hand too. Tiredly, she started over on her Potions Essay. Trying not to smile, I started to help Harry with his homework, glancing once and awhile at my bag, where my essay was safely tucked away- finished. The only sound that filled the room was sighs, quiet questions and the scratching of quills. Hours passed…

"Thanks Hermione," Harry yawned; it was after midnight, but his homework was done. I gathered my books and my ink pot into my arms after swinging my heavy bag onto my shoulder. My eyes were itching with tiredness, but I was satisfied. I was ahead on my homework, I had kept my two best friends from failing once again, and Sarah was still working.

"No problem." I said, starting for the girl's staircase with a yawn, passing Sarah's table. When I blinked, Crookshanks suddenly streaked down the stairs with a yowl and inbetween my legs, unbalancing me. Tired and disoriented, I wobbled, trying to keep my balance. Then books slid out of my arms to the left, and to my right, the ink pot. With a loud crash, it landed on Sarah's table, spraying ink everywhere, making her shriek in surprise. Ink was all over her, the table and…_her essay._


	2. Chapter 2

2

Sarah POV

So far, my fifth year was off to a good start. My friends were making fun of me more this year then ever for being nerdy- but I wasn't going to change, and they knew it. My habits never changed unless it would make me more efficient- something my friends still didn't understand. Not even my appearance had changed since my first year at Hogwarts. I still had the same plain brown hair that I always wore in some form of braid, the same black rectangular framed glasses; my huge writers bump on my left hand from constantly writing. I was pretty resistant to change- in all forms. It made me anxious and uptight.

But then change had to come and ruin my set ways. It came in the disgusting form of Professor Umbridge- the most hideous and toad-ish woman I had ever seen in my life. Along with ugly, her demeanor was just creepy- it was like she was on LSD all the time. Plus, she was an _awful _teacher. Her lack of teaching material in Defense Against the Dark Arts had me teaching myself everything, and working on homework during her class. The day she noticed started the hell that would haunt my entire fifth year. It was the class when she took my Potions Essay. It was almost finished too. As I handed it to her, she had slid it carefully onto her desk with a smug and satisfied smile. I could just see her thinking, _"Another student successfully tortured."_ A huge pit of defiance and anger that I usually never tapped into ignited then, and I didn't read her stupid textbook for the rest of the lesson. How dare she confiscate my things when I had already done the required work? When the lesson ended, she called for me to stay behind in that…_girly_ voice. The rest of my classmates left hastily, afraid of Umbridge picking on any one of them. My friends didn't hesitate for a second, and slipped out. "Come here, dear." Umbridge called from her desk, so I rose and walked calmly up to her desk. Usually, I was a calm and meek person- but I was a huge passive-aggressive. Umbridge was going to get what was coming to her the only way I dared to defy her- and that was in a physiological sense.

"Tell me, dear, in _Defensive Magical Theory, _'Basics for Beginners', what does Wilbert Slinkhard have to say about defensive magic?" Umbridge trilled, resting her chin on one of her tiny, fat little hands. She obviously wanted me to not know the answer to prove her point. Well sorry, toady, that wasn't going to happen.

"That all defensive magic comes from theory, and theory is all you need to know in order to use defensive magic, Professor." I responded easily, and Umbridge's smile grew, but I could tell that it was forced. Her dislike for me was obvious- and if this situation wasn't so serious and negatively charged, I would have laughed in her face.

"So, if you can read the first chapter of my textbook, why do you insist on not reading it in class?"

"Because I've read the whole book, Professor." I said with a new hint of coldness. Usually, I sucked up to teachers- I just couldn't help it. But there was something about Umbridge that made me hate her. She raised her eyebrows.

"Then tell me, what does Slinkhard say about counterjinxes in chapter fifteen?"

"He says that they are improperly named, and that they are called counterjinxes to make jinxes sound more acceptable." I almost talked over her I had the answer so fast. She blinked at me for a second, but then smiled that horrid smile again, and it only made me more and more incensed.

"Ms. Wimkil, not all students are as…advanced as you. But just because you are smart, does not mean that you can question your Professors, nor can you offend them by doing work for other classes in their class. That behavior is unacceptable. Please come here tonight at six thirty to serve your detention. That will be all." She said, and I spun on my heel and left. Only when I was outside the door did I let myself shake with rage.

"Whoa, Sarah, what happened?" Luke asked worriedly. He and Danielle were just outside the door. They had left so fast, I had assumed that they went to the Common Room, and seeing them there was a surprise. I had wanted a moment to be angry alone; usually no one saw me angry- I wouldn't allow it.

"That…" I clenched my fists in frustration, unable to come up with a word that would describe my low opinion of Umbridge. "_Damn it!"_ I hissed, kicking someone's abandoned quill in the hallway, breaking it. "I have detention tonight." I said, trying to take deep breaths. Another thing about me that would never change- my sporadic temper. Usually, I never got angry. But when someone messed with me or things that were important to me, I was like Harry Potter for Merlin's sake, shouting at teachers and storming through hallways. And above all- NO ONE messed with my homework. Umbridge was going to get some form of revenge from me, I knew that much.

"That really sucks, Sarah, I'm sorry." Danielle said, urging me into a walk, away from Umbridge's classroom. She glanced back at it, and I realized that if I had started shouting, Umbridge would have been able to overhear and give us all detention.

"Don't worry about it." I grumbled, shifting my bag on my shoulder…

At six thirty, I showed up at Umbridge's office. Potter was already there, his jaw clenched, writing lines…without ink? I looked at him for a minute. That was impossible and utterly pointless. "Come in, Miss Wimkil." Umbridge called, so I went inside. She gestured to a desk, and it had the same set up, a piece of parchment, a quill, but no ink.

"I can't write lines without ink, Professor." I said coolly, unable to keep the slightest bit of anger out of my voice. Her very presence was just so infuriating. She picked up on it and smiled smugly.

"You won't need any." She replied dismissively. I sat down, not once breaking eye contact with her and picked up the quill. "I must not tell lies." She prompted sweetly.

I wrote it without looking at the paper. I kept my face neutral, even though I felt the back of my hand prickle with pain. I looked down at the paper and kept writing, but snuck a glance at my hand.

_I was writing with my own blood. _

So much hate sprung into me, that I heard the quill creak a little under my hand as I tightened my grip in anger. That stupid _bitch._ I made myself a vow as I scratched out the lines in silence. I was going to get under Umbridge's skin, but not let her affect me. She was going to see just how far I could go. Potter and I wrote in silence for what must have been hours. The only noise was our quills scratching, mine faster than his. She called him to her desk, but I kept writing, even after he left and more silence reigned. "Ms. Wimkil." She called.

"Yes, Professor?" I asked, not even looking up from my writing. I could almost hear her frown, and somewhere deep inside, I did a little victory dance. Even confusing her felt good. The passive aggressive in me egged me on, numbing the pain for a moment. The pain was worth her confusion.

"Come here." She said, so I did. "Hand." She ordered, so I extended it, looking at it clearly for the first time. '_I must not tell lies_' was etched into the back of my hand in my perfect cursive, something I used to take pride in. My parents had me practice lines as a kid so that my handwriting would be sound. "Well, I think the message has sunk in rather well." She said, not able to hide all of the surprise in her voice. "You may go. There is no need for you to come back tomorrow." I left silently. Once I was out the door, I wiped the blood off of my hand and wrist, frowning at the cuts on my hand. If I was braver, I would try to heal it on my own- but I wasn't. It'd have to stay open to the air. With a sigh, I went back to Gryffindor Common Room. Luke and Danielle were asleep, and only Hermione Granger and Potter were in the Common Room. I bit back a groan as I saw them working on Snape's essay. _Damn it._ I still had to write mine! Usually, I wrote a rough draft, and then edited it, then another draft…and so on. I'd have to cram for this essay, and I highly doubted that I'd be happy with it before turning it in.

I plopped down at a table, getting out parchment and a quill, then started to write. _The main ingredients in a Confusing & Befuddlement Concoction are thus, sneezewort, scurvy-grass and lovage. Sneezewort is responsible for the sleepy or drowsy feeling that comes with a Confusing Concoction, scurvy-grass blocks main thought receptors in the brain, and lovage mimics the feeling and impairments of being drunk. All three put together yield a Confusing and/or Befuddlement Concoction…._

It must have been after midnight by the time I was working on the conclusion. Granger and Potter were leaving for the night, when a cat streaked down the girl's staircase and inbetween Granger's legs. She struggled to regain her balance, bushy hair flying, and then the books in her arms fell to the floor. Something landed on my table with a _smash!_ It was cold and wet, and it sprayed all over me, making me shriek in surprise. I took off my glasses and rubbed what I realized was ink off of them so I could see, then put them back on. With a gasp, I took in my destroyed essay. Her inkpot had sent ink everywhere, and my essay was ruined. _Again._ The essay I had spent all damn night working on so that I'd keep up my grades, the essay that was the most important piece of homework I had. And Granger had destroyed it in three seconds.

My temper exploded.

"You destroyed my essay!" I shouted, standing up, feeling ink run down my face and smart in the cuts on my hand. Hermione almost _smiled_, but then quickly hid it. _WHAT?_ Why would Granger _smile?_ Was she some kind of sadist, taking pleasure in other people's pain? "Did you just smile?" I demanded, and she frowned, starting to flush.

"Of course not," she said dismissively, as if she hadn't just _RUINED_ my essay.

"No, you did. Did you 'accidentally' destroy my essay too?" I accused my temper raising my temperature, and she flushed fully. _Bingo._

"Of course not! Be rational." She spluttered, caught in the act. "And if you hadn't gotten your first one taken away, this wouldn't have happened to you!" she shot back, and flushed with pride now as I gaped at her for a second. How dare she!

"That is none of your business. It doesn't affect you anyway." I snapped, snatching up the ink-soaked parchement and crumpling it in my fist. Something flickered in her expression for a moment, as if she meant to disagree with me.

"Are you going to let me apologize or not?" She snapped back after a moment of hesitation.

"I doubt you'll really mean it, so no. Take it, you sabotaged it anyway." I threw the remains of my essay at her, getting ink on her shoulder.

"How dare you!" She shouted, letting the remainder of her books fall and snatching up the essay, throwing it back. "Just because I'm better than you at managing my time doesn't mean that you can accuse me of things I didn't do!"

"Better? _Better?"_ I very nearly shrieked, snatching my ink pot. "I'll show you better-" I threw my ink pot at her feet and it exploded, getting ink all over her.

"Guys!" Potter shouted, but Granger and I weren't listening. She swept all of my books off of my table, taking care to tread on some. In retaliation, I seized my wand, sending a well aimed jinx at her. Jinxes were my long time vice. I was jinx-happy. They were what I was best at, and I was always learning new ones in my spare time.

"I hope your jinxes are better than your homework!" Granger mocked, shooting one back, leaving a scorch mark on the wall when it missed me. If she thought that jinx sucked…I racked my brain and came up with three seventh year jinxes.

"What in Merlin's name is your problem?" Potter shouted at us, bemused, as I fired the three hexes, forcing her to think on her feet. Hermione blocked them, making me duck to avoid my own spells. While I was down, I sent a jinx at her bag, making the seams split. She ducked, aiming under the table, and her countercurse just missed my left foot, leaving a burn mark on the carpet too. I bolted upright, Granger and I both raising our wands at the same time-

"_What is going on in here?"_ A very angry Professor McGonagall slammed the portrait hole, stalking into the room. Both of us lowered our wands quickly, glaring at each other, a confused Potter standing a few yards away.

"She jinxed me, Professor." Hermione blurted immediately, bristling with dislike. That little liar!

"She _destroyed_ my essay on purpose!" I very nearly shouted. We both glared at each other again, hands in fists.

"Enough. This is ridiculous, both of you. I expected much better behavior from such good students. Detention." McGonagall barked, her lips a thin, white line, signifying that she was furious.

"_What?" _We gasped at the same time. That wasn't fair! I wasn't going to go to detention because stupid _Granger_ had sabotaged me! _I_ was the one who had been hurt, not her!

"No objections! Next Friday at eight. My office. And if I _ever_," she glared at us, "see you two _dueling_ again, there will be harsher consequences. Now, take your things and _go to bed!"_ She turned on her heel and left, leaving suffocating silence in her wake. The portrait hole slamming started a headache in my head that made my mood even worse.

"_Evanesco." _I snarled, cleaning up the table, and Summoned my books. I started for the girls' staircase when Hermione's voice stopped me.

"Your homework better watch it." She said, and I stiffly turned around, in disbelief. Was she crazy now, too? Hadn't she had enough, done enough damage tonight?

"Sorry? Did you just threaten my homework?" I asked in disbelief, the anger starting to swell again. I was also strangely protective. _No one_ messed with my homework, not even this nerdy little bitch. I knew I could take her down if I had to, and it seemed more enticing by the second.

"Yes, yes I did. You won't overtake me. _I'm_ the smartest girl in Gryffindor, got it?" She hissed, and I actually took a step back before I said something _very_ irrational.

"Oh yeah? What did you get on Snape's last essay? Perfect marks?" Her face turned bright red, and I knew that I'd hit a sensitive spot. "Watch your back, Granger. Don't mess with me." I snapped, before going up to the girl's dormitory, inexplicable rage and competitive spirit thrumming within. If Hermione Granger wanted to be the smartest witch of our year, she'd have to fight for it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I got some very constructive criticism, which really made my day. I actually got a kick out of it because it was like you all were a bunch of fortune tellers- you predicted (at least, for awhile) how the story was going to go! Give yourselves a pat on the back, and read your reward!**

* * *

><p>3<p>

Sarah POV

It seemed like every Gryffindor knew about the fight Hermione and I had the next morning, and it spread like wildfire. A cocky third year told me he was betting on Granger, and I nearly hexed his arse right then and there. Danielle and Luke were bewildered, not understanding my fierce competitive spirit and suddenly harsh demeanor. They knew me well- I was a pretty gentle soul, but Granger had threatened one of the most important things in my life. Granger's friends were pretty much as confused, looking downright impatient when we first passed each other in the hallway, glaring. I was still worried about her comment last night: _'Your homework better watch it.'_ I didn't want her to get me first; she had already gotten my essay, which I had to rewrite before I went to bed. I had already planned my first attack. I was going to erase all the ink in her textbooks tonight. That'd show her.

Transfiguration was our first class, and I made my friends sit on the opposite side of the room from Granger. I wanted it to appear as if I didn't care- but she'd find out soon enough just how much I did. "Notes today, get out your quills and parchment." Professor McGonagall barked, striding into the room, rapping her wand on a blackboard. Notes appeared there instantly. With a sigh, I reached into my bag for a quill and gasped. Instead of a quill, I pulled out a handful of broken ones, mangled and limp. Not one of them were functional, and they hadn't been like that yesterday. Hearing quiet laughter, my head snapped towards the sound. Hermione was trying to muffle her laughter into the crook of her arm, while her friends watched her in surprise. I felt a flush grow on my face as I almost saw red. She had snuck into my private things and _destroyed _them. What the bloody hell was _wrong_ with her?

"What happened to your quills?" Luke whispered, prodding my shoulder, seeing how I had stiffened and hadn't started taking notes yet.

"_That bitch._" I hissed, and he picked up on my mood immediately, putting one of his on my desk. My hand curled into a fist, the new cuts on my hand from Umbridge prickling with discomfort as I increased the pressure.

"Let it go, Sarah. Sarah? Seriously, just let it go." He was saying, but I ignored him, reaching into my bag and thankfully pulling out parchment that hadn't been messed with. _This. Was. War._ She was obviously a nutcase if she had gone after me already. I took notes quickly, not looking at Granger, even though I knew I was shaking with anger. My thoughts were barely on the lesson…instead…I was planning revenge. I needed to up the ante on my previous plan- that was for sure.

When Transfiguration ended, I stalked out past Granger without a word, even though I knew she was smirking at me. I didn't see her at all in Care of Magical Creatures, and we sat far away from each other in Arithmancy. But at lunch, I launched a new plan into action. While Granger was eating, I slipped under the table and crept silently down it. It didn't take me long to make it to her under the table, and more importantly, her bag. I Summoned the parchment out of her bag, Vanishing it on the spot. Once I had successfully taken all of her parchment, I charmed her best ink pot to write in a pus colored yellow. It was a spell I had learned on the side at the Dueling class my parents made me go to, and it was almost impossible to charm back. Trying not to laugh, I snuck back down and slowly sat back up next to Danielle, who had her head in her hands.

"You're crazy, you know that?" She told me in an undertone. I bristled.

"She's crazier. She snuck into my things and _broke_ all my quills. Just because she feels threatened by me." I shot back, starting to eat.

"You guys never used to hate each other. You never even knew each other existed!" Luke said, spearing a potato.

"So? She's trying to bring me down over some competitive shit!" I snapped.

"Ok…just saying…" Luke said moodily.

**OoOoOoO**

We went to Defense Against the Dark Arts after lunch, and I sat down quietly, taking out only my DADA textbook. All I had to do was wait. And it didn't take long. Granger came in, sat down with her friends, and reached into her bag. Her parchment had been lined up neatly in front of her books. As soon as she put her hand in, she realized that it wasn't there. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her lean over her bag, frowning, then frantically digging through it. Her head whipped around to stare at me, but I kept staring at my book drowsily, but let a tiny smile grace my face. I could almost hear her boiling with rage. _"Hem hem." _Umbridge started class then, letting me smile at my book for the rest of the lesson. Payback felt _so_ good. Hopefully, it would keep Granger off my back for awhile.

**OoOoOoO**

"I think you're ridiculous." Luke told me as I sat in the Common Room after classes, charming all of my school supplies with protective enchantments while filling out a worksheet for Arithmancy at the same time. I was going to be four steps ahead of Granger in everything now- she couldn't affect me that easily.

"I have a right to protect my things. Besides, she started it." I said briskly, packing all of my books away as I saw her and her boys enter the Common Room. She sat far away, by the fire, but I still had a good view of her. She'd soon find out that her ink was now permanently pus yellow, and would blend in with the parchment.

"Do you know how immature you sound?" Danielle exclaimed, and I raised an eyebrow at her, making her laugh. "Ok, that sounded really mature for me, but you sound like a first-year, Sarah! Why don't you just apologize-" I suddenly broke into a grin (I hadn't really been listening to Danielle anyway) and she turned to follow my gaze, cutting herself off when she saw Hermione's face and the pus colored ink. "Merlin, Sarah, you're insane." She grumbled, going back to her Divination homework, something about Jupiter's moons. I barely fought down the urge to snigger.

Hermione POV

"I don't believe it!" I wailed in a quiet undertone, scrawling on a piece of parchment from Harry. My ink had turned to a pus yellow color that blended horribly with the parchment and looked as if I was writing in snot. No enchantment I had tried so far was changing the color back.

"Well, you did mess with her first, Hermione," Ron mumbled, working on a star-chart for Divination. Harry barely glanced up, but I scowled deeply at Ron. Like he would understand.

"She needed to be reminded about how hard I've worked to get where I am, and just because she's a nerd doesn't mean she can surpass me in grades." I tried to sound as convincing as I felt; trying to voice my fear on doing badly in school, but both boys looked at me as if I had just spoken in Gobbledook. "Oh, never mind." I sighed; trying to charm my ink back to black, but my mind was really on getting Sarah back. Today was only Tuesday, and with our detention on Friday, I had all week to try to get her to back off. Feeling slightly frantic about keeping my grades up, I focused back on schoolwork. It was literally like an addiction for me, learning. While Harry liked Quidditch, I loved reading. It was just the way I was. Sarah's presence threatened my confidence, and made me feel stupid.

And I _never_ felt stupid.

With slightly narrowed eyes, I watched Sarah get up, and rub her eyes tiredly behind her glasses. If I thought about it, she wasn't entirely unlike me- she had drive, and was focused on school…_NO._ She wasn't like me at all. She could never be as dedicated as me. That was impossible. I felt a spark of irritation seeing as I _still_ couldn't get my ink to turn back. How could Sarah know a spell that I didn't? The panicked feeling came back then, and my dislike for her deepened even further. If she wanted to see a complex spell, then she'd get one alright. Maybe then she'd realize exactly what she was dealing with.


	4. Chapter 4

4

Hermione POV

The next morning, while Sarah was in the shower, I stole over to her bag, pulling out her Potions textbook, our first class of the day. I rapped my wand on the book, intending to turn all of the text invisible, but it _didn't work._ "Oh, so you charm your books, do you? Clever," I breathed. "But not clever enough…_Diffindo!" _I slowly cut into each binding of her books, intending for only the slightest bit of wear and tear to fully break them. How would she fare if she had to keep track of 400 pages for each class? Smirking to myself, I grabbed my bag and went down to meet the boys.

**OoOoOoO**

"Morning," I said brightly, sitting next to Ron and giving myself a helping of toast.

"Why are you so cheery this morning?" Ron grumbled slightly. He was _definitely_ not a morning person, but his sour mood today couldn't bring me down. I kept picturing Sarah's face when her book would break and had to fight down sniggers.

"No reason," I said lightly, but Harry caught on.

"Did you mess with that Wimkil girl again?" He asked, looking far too happy himself this morning. I felt my face turn slightly pink.

"No! Well, only a little. You'll see." I said mischievously, feeling my mood lighten further. This was going to be good.

"Whatever, come on, we have to go to Potions with that git Snape," Ron yawned, and we left together. As I was sitting down in Potions, I noticed Sarah already had her things out, talking with her friends. I eyed the neat stack of books and notes on her desk and an even better idea popped into my head. What if I just…_took_ her books…then she'd really be in trouble…

"Sit down, books out." Snape snapped, banishing the thought from my head for the time being as he swept into the classroom. "Page 34. We'll be learning the brimstone fire technique today. Take notes." He started, smacking the blackboard with his wand to make our notes appear there. He immediately started lecturing, but I ignored him and looked out of the corner of my eye at Sarah. She opened her book and…._CRACK. _The binding cracked all the way up, and some of the papers slid to the floor in a heap. Perfect!

"Oh my gosh!" I heard her whisper quietly, in a panicked state of despair, snatching the pages off the floor. She restacked them frantically, having to catch more pages as they slid off the stack. I barely fought down my giggles.

"What's wrong? Merlin, what happened to your book? I thought you actually bought new this year." Luke whispered, tacking a handful of the pages. I started snickering quietly, pink in the face from keeping myself from laughing out loud. Harry looked at me and sighed, going back to taking notes.

"I _did!_ I don't understand, I even charmed them to increase their wear protection! This couldn't have happened…unless…" Her face turned a furious shade of pink as she raised her head to glare at me, finally understanding. I smirked, finally fighting down the giggles and went back to taking notes, deep satisfaction lightening my mood further…

Sarah POV

"Ok, this has gone too far," Danielle ranted, trying to keep up with me as I stalked angrily out of the dungeons. "Go tell McGonagall that she's harassing you. _Something._" I glared at Granger as she flounced by, looking as if the whole world was just dandy. I reached for my wand unconsciously, but Luke slapped my hand away from it, giving me a look. We had a silent battle for a moment before I walked on.

"Hell no," I snorted, my anger making me walk faster. "I'm not giving her that satisfaction. Besides, I've already done stuff to her too; I'd just get in trouble." I thought longingly of hexing her now, realizing that her friends would tattle faster than a Firebolt could go.

"Maybe that's what should be done to keep you two from killing each other." Luke suggested, but I had suddenly stopped, palling, wondering if she had done it to all my other books-

"I need Spellotape, and time for some Bonding Charms. She might have gone after all my books, not just one." I panicked, digging into my bag, examining all the bindings. None of them seemed broken, but I hadn't even noticed that my Potions textbook was cracked.

"Sarah, _relax._ You can do it tonight, I know that you're ahead on your homework. We'll go for a walk on the grounds, and you can be at peace. Seriously, you need a night off. I don't want you plotting anyway." Luke insisted.

So we did just that. I made sure to take all of my school things with me, and we went for a walk on the edge of the Quidditch Pitch. I settled down and started the slow process of Spellotaping my books back together, talking with Luke, watching the first training match of the season go underway for the Gryffindors. As much as I hated to admit it, the Gryffindor team didn't look like much. Even though I didn't care for (or understand) Quidditch at all, I could tell that our team this year was very poor. "You know, I should have tried out for Chaser," Luke was saying, absentmindedly pulling at blades of grass as he watched the practice.

"Then why didn't you?" I asked, sealing my binding back together with a complicated little charm, Spellotaping it too for good measure. Luke shrugged, flopping onto his back, letting his messy blond hair cover some of his face. "Pff, seriously, Luke, if you want something, you have to go after it. Why do you think I'm so nerdy?" I sighed, and he laughed.

"You _are _nerdy, Merlin knows you're nerdy," he chuckled, and I threw a ball of Spellotape at his head.

"Oi!" He barked in mock anger, bolting up, but frowning at something past me. "Why is Slytherin here?" He asked, and I turned. We were pretty close to the stands, and filling the front row was the Slytherin Quidditch team. They all had nasty looks on their faces, but I honestly couldn't summon the emotion to care. The Gryffindor team could handle itself.

"They shouldn't be able to watch practices like that." I supplied thoughtlessly, and frowned, going back to my book, testing the binding, frowning deeper when I thought about Granger. She had found away around my protective charms, which I had been pretty confident in. What if she was smarter than me? I was constantly working to be where I was. How easily could she overthrow me?

"_Gryffindors are losers, Gryffindors are losers!"_ The Slytherin's started to chant.

"That is so pathetic," Luke snorted, falling back onto his back, but frowning as the chant only got louder. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the members of the Gryffindor team start to falter under the pressure.

"Ignore it. Hey, did you finish Inanimatus Conjurus for McGonagall yet?" Making forced conversation, I hit my book harder than necessary with another spell as the chant got louder. Luke looked at me, rolled his eyes, and flopped back down. The chant wasn't aimed at me, but I felt like it was. With Granger going at me and me going at her, I had started to doubt myself. Learning was all I had ever been good at, and when someone was trying to trip me up, it was a lot of stress. Plus, my unusually high temper lately wasn't helping.

"Nope." Luke savored the word, and I laughed softly, but then almost growled in irritation as the chant got louder yet. Luke made a noise between a grunt and a laugh. The chant got louder and louder until I felt my patience snap completely.

"Ok, that's _enough_." I got up, tucking my book under my arm and marched around to the bottom of the stands when the chant got louder yet. Anger that I usually never felt bubbled up inside me until I was itching to draw my wand and start hexing.

"Sarah…?" Luke called, just realizing that I had gotten up. He started to jog after me, but I yelled at the Slytherin's before he got a chance to stop me.

"Hey, pikeys!" I shouted up into the stands, attracting their attention. "Sod off!" I glared up at them as they stopped chanting, distracted.

"Go read a book, nerd!" One of them jeered.

"Yeah, it's not bothering you, Mudblood!" Another one barked, and they all laughed darkly in agreement, leering at me.

"Let it go," Luke advised instantly, pulling up besides me, but I whipped out my wand anyway. _No one_ called me a Mudblood. It was a dirty and cruel aspersion that made me see red.

"It's annoying, immature, and it only shows how much of a toerag you all are. Now, _naff off!" _I shouted, moving to enter the stands, but Luke caught my arm. We glared at each other for a second, mine daring him to stop me, his fierce.

"Go back to Gryffindor and pick on Granger for us!" Malfoy shouted down and interrupted us, and that's when I lost it. I must have sent ten strong hexes at them before Luke forced my wand tip down after a scuffle; Luke fought to seize my wrist and I fought his grip. With yelps of fear and surprise, the Slytherin team had to duck fast to avoid my spells, cursing all the while.

"What are you _doing?_" Luke hissed. "Why would you let them get to you like that? You've never hexed someone before!" Some of his words were drowned out by some raucous applause from the Weasley twins up in the air, who were cheering me on. I went to hex the Slytherin Team again as their heads poked back up. I got a few more at them until Luke wrestled my wand down again.

"Because I'm sick and tired of people only seeing me as competition with Granger! And that chant was despicable, and they shouldn't have been in the stands." I said with satisfaction as I watched them leave, shooting me dirty looks. I would have rather seen the Slytherin Quidditch Team in the Hospital Wing, not the Quidditch Pitch. I tried to pull away from Luke, annoyed that he had stopped me, but he didn't let go.

"You know that they'll try and get you back for this." Luke said, almost a threat but I pulled out of his grasp, scowling. It wasn't his place to babysit me.

"I'd like to see them try, I'd hex their arses before they could even think of a jinx." I said somewhat bitterly before stalking away and thankfully Luke didn't follow me.

Luke POV

Concerned, I stayed in the stands, watching Sarah get smaller and smaller until she disappeared inside Hogwarts. I needed to talk to Hermione Granger's friends. Somehow, this had to end; I was tired of Sarah being snippy lately because of Granger. She had always been pretty meek- obviously a pushover, and I hated her new attitude. With the Slytherin's gone, the Gryffindors practiced for awhile, but when Weasley and Potter were walking out of the changing room the sun hadn't set yet. "Hey, can I talk to you guys a minute?" I asked, and they exchanged looks before coming over and sitting in the stands next to me. "Well, hey, I'm Luke." I introduced myself, then immediately felt stupid. Weasley wouldn't stop staring at me, and he had always freaked me out. Plus, I had only been annoyed with Harry Potter since our very first day. I wanted to speak with them for as little time as possible.

"Ron," said Weasley.

"Harry," Harry Potter introduced himself, which I found kind of funny, considering everyone knew him. But hey, whatever. Personally, I _hated_ him, but at least he was polite when he wasn't claiming murders and yelling at teachers.

"Ok, do you know what is wrong with Hermione? Because I'm still trying to figure out why Sarah is acting so…strange." I summed up lamely. Granger had started it after all- it was mostly her fault.

"Well…Hermione is just really competitive. I think." Harry said slowly, as if he was just thinking about it.

"Yeah," Agreed Ron with a frown. I nearly snorted with laughter. These two apparently weren't too gifted in the brains department.

"Which is weird, because Sarah isn't. She's…ok, well, here's the deal." I made up my mind to try to portray Sarah in the best way possible, because even me, her friend, could admit: she came off as a bitch a lot. "Sarah's parents are Muggles, but they are scary-weird perfectionists. Even though she doesn't have normal classes, they still check up on her grades. They only had Sarah so that she'd be perfect. She's just under a lot of pressure, she's always been trying to be perfect. But you can tell that's not what she wants." Both guys blinked, obviously I had either scared them off or surprised them with the fact that I could actually think about and comprehend women.

"Well, Hermione is kinda weird about homework sometimes…?" Ron almost asked Harry, but Harry just shrugged.

"Ok, so both of them are kind of obsessed with being successful, right? Maybe if they realize how alike they are, maybe they'll stop trying to kill each other." I sighed. I could see that talking to these two was a mistake; we weren't going to get anything done.

"What are you suggesting?" Ron asked, and I shrugged.

"I don't know! I mean, Danielle is more of a friend to Sarah, they're both girls, I'm not a girl. I don't know." I said hopelessly. Getting into a girl's mind was basically _impossible._ "But I know that this has to stop. I've never seen Sarah loose her temper like that and start hexing people, I don't want her to do that to Hermione."

"Yeah, I mean, what Hermione is doing…it's kind of freaking us out. Hermione's never really been competitive with anyone before except for Sarah. It's not like her. But how do we get them to stop? If one of them does something, the other just retaliates." Harry started, and by the end, he was almost flushing. I mentally applauded him for expressing a complete thought.

"I honestly don't know. I'll talk to Danielle about it…and I'll try to talk to Sarah again. But I can't make any promises."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: A 'pikey', the insult Sarah used, is the British word for 'white trash'. It would be double the insult to me because she called purebloods that, wouldn't you say? Oh, and 'naff off' is just another way to say 'sod off' which means 'fuck off'. Clear as mud? Awesome. This has been one of the author's many attempts to assimilate to British culture.**


	5. Chapter 5

5

Sarah POV

I stormed back into the castle, too angry at myself to turn around and apologize to Luke. He had only reminded me of how strong and flawless I had to be. If Granger wanted to mess with my books, I'd mess with hers. Feeling for some strange reason like I should be crying, I went back to Gryffindor Common Room. Without missing a beat upon seeing that Hermione wasn't anywhere in sight, I went up to the girl's dormitory. Going to her trunk, I fished around and pulled out her Standard Book of Spells Grade 5. It helped that her things were immaculately organized, just like mine. Feeling bitter, I tucked the book under my arm and hid it in the bottom of my trunk. All I had to do was wait. With a sigh, I went over to a window, feeling hopelessly out of place. Sitting in the seat, I gazed out the window with a frown. If I really thought about Granger, not in a mean way, but simply analyzed her, she wasn't that bad. She was very dedicated to her schoolwork, and obviously cared about learning. The only fault I could see with her was that she was a sabotaging bitch. After a while, my eyes rested on an owl that was flying towards the school. Moments later, with a shock, I realized it was mine. Unfortunately, the only mail I ever got was from my parents- and their letters were never very pleasant. Scowling now, I opened the window, and let him in. Joe, my owl, looked tired, but he stuck out his leg just the same. I took the letter and tore it open.

_Sarah,_

_How are you settling in this year? Your father and I are sure that you are living up to us, as always. Your preliminary grade report looks perfect. Thank you for living up to our potential. We know that the Wimkil name is safe in your hands. However, we would like to remind you again that we __**highly**__disapprove of your choice in friends. Danielle Lubowski is very distasteful, and your friend Luke is incredibly irresponsible and very crude. Until you search for new companions, your mother and I will continue to reprimand you about them. You are fifteen years old, old enough to understand right and wrong. Please continue to show your professors your true potential. Also, we have signed you up again for the dueling classes during the summer. You seem to like them, and as long as you aren't hexing your fellow classmates, we hope that you can put that knowledge to good use. We are, as always, proud of you._

_Sincerely, _

_Your Father_

"Sarah?" A voice asked, and I turned, crunching the letter into a ball in my fist. Danielle was there, looking at me strangely. "What's the matter, Luke just came in saying that you were trying to hex Slytherins? Oh." She said, seeing Joe and the letter and immediately understanding. My parents never wrote to me in a normal way, and they always told me to find new friends.

"It's nothing. I just lost my temper is all." I said quietly, crumpling the ball further and throwing it onto the ground. My parents were gits.

"How did they describe me this time?" She joked halfheartedly, not buying my story. She sat on my bed. I considered lying, but knew that Danielle wouldn't believe it. I could never think up something that wasn't as offensive, sadly, because my parents would never write something that had tact.

"They said you were distasteful," I said through gritted teeth, "Which means they think you're a slut." Yanking the ponytail at the end of my braid roughly out, I angrily ran my fingers through my thick hair. Free from its braid, my hair was wavy and long, down to the small of my back.

"Ouch. That's a new one for them. What did they say about Luke?"

"That he was, and I quote, 'incredibly irresponsible and crude.' _Goddammit!" _ I hissed, slamming my fist against a bed post. Weary hatred for my parents always depressed me more than it made me angry, but for once, I was wishing that this letter was going to be different. I did it every time and was disappointed every time.

"Sarah, it's not like you weren't expecting this. Your parents have always been assholes." Danielle tried to say in a comforting way, but it came out flat. My hand throbbed as I glared at the floor.

"So I can't hope that for maybe once, for one letter, they could be somewhat normal? That they wouldn't treat me like a show dog, perhaps?" I meant to snap it, but it came out very quiet. Danielle didn't say anything for a moment, before standing up and picking up the letter and un-crumpling it.

"Still pompus, and still assholes. They even signed you up again for those stupid dueling classes. Merlin, Sarah, why do you put up with this? You know that you can stay with me during the summer." Danielle offered, and I laughed hollowly.

"Yes, because my parents would really allow that. Here," I held out my hand, and Danielle put the letter in my hand. I stalked over to the heater in the middle of the room and threw it into the mini fire within, watching it curl almost immediately into ash.

"The only place that letters from them will ever belong is in the fire. Oh, sorry, Joe." I apologized to my owl, opening the window again and letting him fly back to the Owlery. I didn't have the heart to keep him here to write a reply.

"Sarah, Luke still wants to talk to you. And I want to know why you were hexing Slytherins."

"Look, it's a long story. I was just feeling the pressure and those _imbeciles_-"

"Speak English, Sarah." Danielle butted in, examining her fingernails. I rolled my eyes. She knew that when I was mad, I tended to use my vocabulary.

"The Slytherin Quidditch team showed up when the Gryffindors were practicing. Luke and I had taken a walk to repair my books, and we heard them start chanting that 'Gryffindor's are losers.' I snapped, and yelled at them. When they called me a Mudblood I started hexing them." I finished, and Danielle whistled, sinking back down onto my bed.

"You know they'll try to get you back for that."

"That's exactly what Luke said."

"Speaking of Luke, you should go talk to him. He's in the Common Room, and he still wants a word." Danielle pressed, standing up, apparently satisfied with her nails. With a weary smile, I got up, heading for the door.

"See you later," I said softly, before going down the stairs to talk with Luke.

Hermione POV

Pressed into a niche in the stairs, I watched Sarah tiredly walk down the stairs, her hair unbraided for once. She looked exhausted. Even when she was gone, I stayed pressed into a shadow, thinking wildly about what I had just heard about her. She was a muggleborn like me, and it sounded like she had freaky parents. But I was worried now that I knew she was a dueler. I wasn't that good at dueling in practice, but the spells I knew were strong. I didn't want her to start hexing me, and I _didn't_ want to lose.

And if she was under a lot of stress, maybe I could just _tip_ her over the edge, and make her lose her grip on grades. I wonder what her parents would say then…


	6. Chapter 6

6

Hermione POV

It was Thursday, the night before my detention, so I was doing extra homework in retaliation, trying not to fall behind. The Common Room was loud, as usual, but I focused on my homework, especially the Inanimatus Conjurus essay for McGonagall. I was still embarrassed about her seeing me lose control like that. I knew that I had to show her that I was still the level-headed student she had known me to be. I started sorting through my books, looking for the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5, but it wasn't there. I started to panic slightly when I couldn't find it. "Harry?" I asked, and he looked up from some Herbology homework. "Did you borrow my spell book?"

"No, I didn't. Is yours missing?" He asked, setting down his quill. Ron snorted, his face so close to some parchment, he was almost getting ink on his nose.

"Mione', you're too organized to loose a book." He muttered, then breathed a curse word, crossing out a line on his parchment. I seized my bag again, convinced that I had taken it with me today.

"Maybe it's upstairs." Harry suggested, going back to his homework. "But if you can't find it, you can borrow mine."

"I'll go check." I said quickly, going to the girl's dormitory. I dug through my trunk, pushing aside extra books and novels, but I still couldn't find it. "Weird," I muttered, sitting back on my heels. "I _swear_ I took that book with me today, and I didn't leave it in the library, I wasn't there…" I stopped talking to myself when my gaze fell upon Sarah's trunk. _Would she steal a book?_ I wondered, getting up slowly. _Probably._ I went to walk over, but rapidly changed direction when I heard feet on the stairs. Parvati gave me a hasty smile when she came into view, jogging over to her trunk and grabbing a pack of Exploding Snap cards. As she left, I thought hard, staring at Sarah's trunk. _Hermione, do you have any proof that she took it? Maybe yours is just around somewhere, you've lost books before. _Frustrated, I kicked her trunk on my way past it, but didn't look for my book. Seeing no other choice, I started other homework, hoping to find my book later to look up a reference. I made notes in my books that I needed, and the boys wouldn't have them in theirs.

Later in the night, I went back and looked through my trunk again and found it. Hoping that I wasn't going crazy, I finished the essay for McGonagall. "Hey, Hermione?" Harry asked as I was scanning my essay for mistakes.

"Yes?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of it. "Seriously, what is it?" I asked, when Harry just shifted, not answering. I looked up, and he and Ron looked very nervous. They shared a look, almost as if they were recommitting themselves to some dangerous cause.

"Well, it's just that…." Harry said really fast, and I blinked, having to think about what he said, and then frowning.

"Why? A little competition never hurt anyone." I tried to say coolly, but my voice came out sharp. This honestly wasn't any of their business.

"Well, because, we talked to her friend, Luke, and she knows how to duel, ok? We don't want you two hexing and dueling each other." Ron said quickly, his ears turning as red as his hair. I scoffed, angry that they automatically assumed that Sarah was better at dueling then I was.

"You don't think I could handle it?" I asked, my voice rising a little, and both boys looked at each other somewhat hopelessly. "You know what, no, I'm sorry," I said, forcing myself to calm down and smile. I had jumped to conclusions, and the boys weren't exactly the smartest. I was actually surprised that they had taken such an interest in the whole thing. "Thank you for caring, it means a lot…but I got this. Don't worry. I know more about Sarah than you would think." I said confidently, and the boys traded a loaded glance that looked somewhat terrified. "Now, I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow." I said somewhat stiffly, rolling up the essay, organizing my things, then going to the girl's dormitory, the place where they couldn't follow me. With a sigh, and a mind full of thoughts, I went to bed.

Sarah POV

On Friday morning, Hermione and I passed each other with a glare. She was leaving the Great Hall, and I was going in. Dreading whatever McGonagall had in store for us, I flopped down at the breakfast table, too distracted to eat. I was a mix of furious and exhausted. After hearing Granger's conversation with her friends, I had rounded on Luke, realizing that he had stayed after the Gryffindor practice to talk with them. I don't know why I did, considering I had chickened out and put back Granger's book, unharmed. But I knew that I hated the idea of Luke getting involved in my affairs. Later, I apologized to him, but he just shrugged it off, looking moody; but we all were. It was Friday, the night I usually helped him and Danielle with homework. But since I had a _detention_, that wasn't going to work out, and they'd have to live without me. Slightly terrified, I imagined the content of the letter I would receive from my parents when they found out, if they didn't already know. A nasty feeling told me that they did know.

**OoOoOoO**

The day passed far too quickly for my liking, and as I stepped into McGonagall's classroom, I felt a slight chill of foreboding. Granger was already there, seated at a two person desk. On it was a huge stack of papers, two ink pots of red ink, and two quills. "Miss Wimkil, I'm glad you are on time. You and Ms. Granger will be correcting the Inanimatus Conjurus papers from your grade. I will go over them too, of course, but since you both seem to think that you know everything, maybe you will do a better job correcting than me. Once all the papers have been corrected, you may leave." Professor McGonagall said this all rather frostily, then turned and left. Dead silence descended, but I stiffly walked over and sat next to Granger anyway, taking a paper off the stack and uncapping my ink pot. As soon as this was over with, the better.

The scratching of our quills started up, but neither of us spoke. The pile of essays didn't seem to be getting any smaller, even after we had been there for _three hours._ I thought about Luke, and how he had been going behind my back with Grangers friends. If I was honest with myself, I really wasn't angry with him anymore. In fact, I really wasn't angry at Granger, either. I was actually really curious. After deliberating with myself for a few minutes more, I finally decided to say something. "Look, I don't know how you'll respond to this, but I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted at you for an accident, and I shouldn't have lost my temper." I said, while focusing intently on the essay I was grading. From behind the stack of papers, I heard Hermione stiffen. I marked a fact wrong on the essay before she spoke.

"I've always felt this…_need_ to be the best. Learning was the only thing I was ever good at, and, when you started to be better then me…I got jealous. But I _never_ meant to destroy your essay on purpose. I'm sorry." When she finished, more silence fell. I felt a rush of relief a second later. Finally, someone who understood me!

"I've always like learning, but I would be happy with _my _best, not perfection. But…my parents…they feel differently. Even though they are Muggles, they are obsessed with looking flawless. When they found out I was a witch, they almost got an exorcism on me until Professor McGonagall showed up and explained."

"There's just so much pressure," We said unknowingly in unison, and for a moment, there was silence again until I scooted my chair back. Hermione followed suit, so that we could look at each other without the papers in the way. I suddenly saw her in a different light, not as an enemy, but as something close to a friend.

"Truce?" She offered her hand to me, and, unable to hide back a smile, I shook her hand.

"So, while we are confessing, I have one more to make. I took your Standard Book of Spells. But then I chickened out and put it back." I admitted, and Hermione bit her lip, looking very out of sorts.

"Don't worry about it. For awhile, I was so upset; I eavesdropped on you and your friend Danielle about your parents, and the letter you got recently. I was intending to blackmail you, but when I realized how similar we were…I didn't. And Danielle was right; your parents really are assholes. I mean, and exorcism? Really?" Hermione asked bewildered, and I laughed, throwing down my quill with a slight bitterness. For a second, all I focused on was the slowly healing scars on the back of my hand. Umbridge kind of reminded me of my parents in a weird kind of way that wasn't very comforting.

"Oh yes. They even locked me in the basement. But when they found out I was special in a _good_ way, they thought I was some sort of prodigy."

"Wow." Hermione said softly, setting down her quill too. I laughed at her again, getting up and stretching, but then sitting back down.

"Forget about it. There isn't a whole lot you could do anyway. Besides, I want these papers graded so that I can go to bed." I changed the subject, picking up my quill again, and Hermione followed suit.

"So, I also heard that you duel?" Hermione asked, making a note in the margin of an essay.

"Courtesy of my parents, yes. Since first year." I replied, scanning lines. "The Ministry offers classes."

"Well, I've had this idea for awhile, and I was wondering if you'd give me an opinion on it." Hermione said.

"Shoot," I said with a grin to my paper.

"Everyone hates Umbridge, but I have a feeling that we hate her more than most. I wanted to learn something from Defense Against the Dark Arts this year, and I'm sure you did too. But then I thought- what if we taught ourselves?"


	7. Chapter 7

7

Hermione POV

"What do you mean, exactly?" she asked, looking over at me, essay forgotten.

"Well," I said, flushing a little, "we wouldn't be following a textbook, not exactly. I want us to be able to protect ourselves for what's ahead. You do know that He's back, don't you?" I pressed, and Sarah frowned.

"I believe Harry and Dumbledore, if that's what you're asking." She replied, and I smiled.

"Good. If he does rise to power again, we'll have to be able to defend ourselves. And since we aren't learning _anything_ from Umbridge, I thought we'd teach ourselves."

"Well, you don't need my help to teach yourself and your friends, Hermione." Sarah replied, but I shook my head, leaning a little bit closer.

"I want to start a group, where it's not just us. Where it's anyone who wants to learn. And not limited to Gryffindors either, anyone, minus Slytherins perhaps, could join."

"I don't know how you'd arrange it. You'd have to make a pact with everyone who signed up, you'd need a leader, a set idea of what spells, hexes or jinxes to teach…" Sarah trailed off, but I was smiling again.

"I've already thought about that. Harry would lead us, he has the most experience in real life situations, and I was wondering if you'd help us once we got to more of the dueling spells, when it comes to how to duel and stuff, because the books in the library only refer to a step process, but that'd be useless in a _real _duel." I said this all very fast, but Sarah was nodding now, understanding, and starting to smile too.

"That sounds great! But how would you tell everyone when to come to meetings? And how would you make sure that no one tells a teacher, or worse, Umbridge?"

"I'd bewitch a piece of paper to make a pact, like you said. As for scheduling meetings, I need to do more research on that, but it shouldn't take me long."

"Well, I'll help," Sarah offered, and I nearly squealed with happiness. If I had talked about this with Ron or Harry, they wouldn't have been as excited. Having another, well, nerd like me for a friend was _great. _I couldn't believe I'd misjudged this girl!

"Thank you," I said gratefully, going back to my essay. I saw Sarah grin out of the corner of my eye. For the rest of the night, we talked animatedly about my idea, and the longer we talked, the better of friends we became. It was like talking to myself, but with more spunk. Now that we weren't enemies, we were friends.

Sarah POV

The next day, as I passed Hermione in the hallway, we smiled at each other, making her red-haired friend do a double take, and Danielle raise her eyebrows. "What was that all about?" she asked after we had passed them. I looked at her. She had her nose wrinkled, as if she had smelled something bad.

"We 'made up' yesterday at our detention. Hermione is actually a really great person. She's as nerdy as I am." I said easily, and Luke and Danielle exchanged a look. "_What?"_ I asked a tad irritably. I didn't understand their reaction at all.

"Well, I don't think-" Danielle started, but Luke cut her off.

"Later," He said, then steered us into Charms, ignoring all of my questions until I eventually gave up. After Charms, Hermione pulled me aside. Both of our friends balked where they were, unsure of our interaction.

"I'm going to propose the idea tonight to Harry and Ron. If they go for it, will you help?" She asked in an undertone. I grinned.

"Of course. Oh, here," I pulled a very thin volume out of my bag and gave it to her. "It talks about Death Eater tattoos in there. I figured if that's how they call each other, maybe we could replicate the spell onto an object so that we wouldn't have to be tattooed. And then all you'd have to do is have one master object to control the others, and it would display the date and time and stuff." I said, and Hermione beamed.

"Excellent! Great, ok, I'll talk to you tonight. Thanks!" She left, excited, and her friends pelted after her, clearly confused. I laughed until Luke interrupted me.

"Wait, so you two are friends now?" Luke asked, and there was a tone in his voice I couldn't identify, but sounded almost like scorn.

"Yeah…so what?" I asked, placing a hand on my hip and raising an eyebrow. He knew this look well- it was thus: either get to the point, or stop messing with me.

"Well, Sarah…Merlin, this will take awhile. Why don't we wait until tonight, ok?" Luke and Danielle both looked worried.

"Ok? Sure." I said, curious, but I let it go, unwilling to press them.

**OoOoOoO**

That night in the Common Room, I finished my homework fairly quickly, then went over to Hermione when she beckoned me. Potter looked paler than usual, so he clearly didn't like the idea, but he must have been going along with it. "Sarah, great. So, I worked out a system to call everyone, fake Galleons with that charm, they'll heat up when a new message is given, and the time will be written on it. We'll just need a place. And of course, we have to organize a meeting as to when everyone will come and sign up. Also, I'm going to jinx the piece of paper that everyone signs, to keep anyone from telling Umbridge in secret."

"Perfect. Where will the meeting be?" I asked, and Hermione shrugged.

"I'm working on that. It has to be on school grounds, but somewhere private. I'll get back to you."

"_Sarah!"_ I heard Luke call, and I frowned, turning. He was striding over, Danielle in tow, and he tried to pull me somewhere a bit more private before I twisted out of his grasp.

"What?" I asked, surprised and irritated at his reaction. I was also painfully aware that we weren't far enough away from Hermione and her friends for this to be a private conversation. But if they had to overhear, they'd have to overhear. I wanted to know why Luke and Danielle were acting so strangely.

"What are you _doing?"_ Luke whispered, sounding scandalized.

"Having a civilized conversation? Seriously, what is wrong with you two today?" I asked, and Danielle and Luke shared that _glance. _

"You're talking to them." Danielle said, clearly with distaste, and I heard myself snort, shaking my head, making the long French braid down my back wiggle.

"Sorry?" I asked in disbelief. I couldn't have possibly heard her right.

"Granger is a freak, Potter's a liar and Weasley, well, Merlin, he's a Weasley, isn't he?" Luke said rather loudly, and for a second, I only stood there frozen, gaping at him. This was one of my closest friends, acting like a total idiot. I had never heard him like this before.

"_What did you just say?"_ I gasped, and Danielle sent a look at Luke before putting a sympathetic hand on my shoulder.

"Don't tell me you believed them." She said softly, like a parent trying to tell their child that there weren't monsters under their bed. I tried to shrug off her arm, mind reeling. Was this some kind of joke?

"Believe what? That I'm not a toerag and a racist?" I shot at Luke, and he scowled. He bit back a retort when Danielle kept talking.

"No," She said patiently. "That He Who Must Not Be Named has returned." I blinked, then slapped her hand off of me in disgust.

"This is what this is about? I thought you both were somewhat logical, this is ridiculous." I raised my voice, but Luke snorted. It made my blood boil.

"Logical? There isn't any proof Sarah, I thought as smart as you are that you could see this."

"For Merlin's sake, Dumbledore-" I started, but he talked louder, drowning me out.

"Is old and incompetent, and he only says he's back because he believes _Potter._ Besides, he just wants to be Minister." Luke spat, crossing his arms.

"Oh, so you really believe that the greatest wizard of _all time_ would lie about the darkest wizard of_ all time_ had returned? And besides, Dumbledore was already offered the job, and he turned it down." I snapped back, clenching my fists, standing on my tippy-toes to get in his face.

"Oh, Sarah, how could you believe them?" Danielle said sadly, shocking me. She was acting like I had been deceived, and that she had just disabused me from some terrible lie.

"Sarah, you are so full of crap." Luke snarled. "You would believe _Potter?_"

"I'm not a douchebag, so yes, I do." I said angrily, and his hard slap came from nowhere, almost knocking my glasses of my face, making me gasp. After a moment full of tension and silence, I straightened my glasses, took a deep breath, and turned away, shocked and numb. My two best friends, two people that I thought I knew were obviously not who I thought they were.

"Wait, Sarah-" Luke grabbed my arm, but in a heartbeat, I drew my wand and pointed it at his face like I had wanted to all along. Their sick form of betrayal had rattled me to the core, and I couldn't take any of his crap anymore. Luke's surprised eyes only made it worse.

"Don't touch me, don't talk to me, and don't you _dare_ follow me." I said this very quietly, but it was full of venom. My numbness had broken- now I was full of rage. Luke had _hit me_. He let go slowly, then I turned and stormed away, past the shocked and very angry faces of Hermione and her friends, and I kicked open the portrait hole and nearly ran out of sight. I didn't care that it was after hours, or if I could easily be caught. My two best friends had totally changed sides, and Luke, the gentlest soul I thought I knew had just _slapped me._ He had also just been a racist prick for Merlin's sake!

Despite my best efforts, I felt tears well over and streak down my face as I almost ran to the Owlery. Once there, I cleaned a corner free of owl poop then curled up, hugging my knees, clutching my wand in my fist. _What the hell had just happened?_ With a flap of wings, I felt Joe rest on my shoulder, and he started to nibble on some of my hair as I cried. I don't know how long I was up there, but eventually I quieted my sniffles and stood up. I had come here to think, but I had tried to keep my mind blank, too hurt to try to think about why what had happened had happened. Joe un-tucked his head from his wing and flew back up into the rafters. With a heavy sigh, I started back for the Common Room, dreading seeing Danielle and Luke tomorrow.


	8. Chapter 8

8

Hermione POV

"Sarah, you are so full of crap." Luke snarled. "You would believe _Potter?_"

"I'm not a douchebag, so yes, I do." Sarah had hissed back at him, and he suddenly slapped her hard, almost knocking off her glasses. As soon as Luke had slapped her, he looked stunned, as if he had done it without realizing. After a moment full of silence, Sarah straightened her glasses, took a deep breath, and turned away, her expression unreadable. I tightened my grip on Ron's arm to keep him from getting up, trying to control my anger and shock. Had her friends always been like this?

"Wait, Sarah-" Luke grabbed her arm, his face full of regret and shame now, but Sarah quickly drew her wand and pointed it right inbetween his eyes, her eyes flashing. A bruise started to raise right on cheekbone as she spoke.

"Don't touch me, don't talk to me, and don't you _dare_ follow me." She said softly, but it was definitely a threat. He let go slowly, then she turned and stormed away and out of the portrait hole without another word.

"Come on, let's go." Danielle sniffed, shooting us a dirty look before taking Luke's arm and pulling him away.

"Wow," I breathed, dropping my hand from Ron's arm, trying to think. My mind was numb- how could I have not seen this, and how could Sarah have put up with it?

"That guy is a prick." Ron snarled, cracking his knuckles. "And he was alright when we talked to him!"

"Harry, Ron's right," I said, turning to Harry, who had received his second shock of the night and was paler than before. "If he's a jerk of enough to hit a girl, then you know that his words don't have any merit. And besides, she believes you. We believe you. And once we start this club, others will too."

"Can't we give them detention?" Ron asked, still glaring over at the duo, sitting calmly by the fire, talking like nothing had happened. Danielle even laughed at something Luke had said. It was so carefree that it made my insides burn. Now that I thought about it, I had heard her friends say some things that were tactless on more than one occasion.

"We could, actually," I said, liking the idea now, but Harry shook his head, jerking himself out of his daze.

"Just leave it." He said quietly. "They aren't worth it."

"I guess so," I said, glaring at them one last time, then looking at the portrait hole. It was after hours, so I thought Sarah would be back soon. But when we finally went to bed at eleven thirty, she still hadn't returned…

Sarah POV

The next morning, I got up early, before anyone else. I hid in the library until breakfast was being served, then I ate quickly and disappeared again, not wanting to run into Luke or Danielle just yet, and I _really_ didn't want to talk to Hermione. The degrading things that Luke and Danielle had said made me embarrassed to even have been associated with them. Besides, I now had a lovely bruise on the right side of my face that was a greenish-blue. But after waiting as long as I could in the library, I had to leave it to go to Potions. Holding my head high, I entered the dungeon and sat as far away from my ex-friends as possible, almost next to the Slytherins. Trying to act like nothing had happened; I spent the entire lesson next to Neville Longbottom, who was absolutely horrid at Potions. He would talk nervously to himself, checking everything four times and still getting it wrong. I tried to help him, but it seemed to make him even more nervous. Thankfully, he didn't ask about the bruise, and I went through the whole lesson without looking at Luke or Danielle once. Ironically enough, we got back our Confusing Concoction Essay's, and I didn't even look at the grade. I just shoved it into my bag and tried to leave early.

"Sarah!" Hermione called, and successfully caught me on the stairs, despite my attempts to get away. For a second, we only stared at each other.

"You're so wrong, Sarah." Luke said as he went by. Without even thinking about it, I seized my wand and took aim at his retreating figure. Before I hexed his back, Hermione seized my wrist. I glared at his back, dropping my hand.

"Sarah, tell me what's going on." She said almost sternly, letting go once Luke was out of sight. I shrugged, trying not to notice how her friends were eavesdropping.

"My friends turned out to be complete assholes, Hermione, what can I say? I thought they were on my side. I guess not." I ended bitterly, shifting my bag on my shoulder, uncomfortable. "And I'm sorry about what he said." I said this stiffly, feeling my face scowl. I still couldn't wrap my mind around it. I wanted to hex my ex-friends, but at the same time, I wanted to talk some sense into them, and I knew I couldn't attempt either without eventually doing the other. The worst part was that they didn't even deserve my time.

"It's ok, Sarah. Really, it is." Hermione said, emphasizing when I shot her a disbelieving look. "Now, let me see that bruise." I sighed and took off my glasses so she could see it better, glad for not being able to see so well without them. I didn't want to see their faces.

"You should go to Madam Pompfrey." She said, and I shoved my glasses back up my nose and shrugged again. I was burning with shame, especially because Hermione was being so nice about it. It was awkward.

"I'll just do it myself later." I muttered distractedly as the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team glared at me as he went by. We locked eyes for a second, and he smirked. Hermione didn't miss that either, and hooked her arm through mine.

"Come on. You can sit with us. It'll be better than sitting alone." She pressed, so I let her take me up the stairs.

"Thanks," I said quietly, and she beamed, directing us to DADA, and I sat with them, ignoring Luke and Danielle entirely.

"You should have hexed him." Ron Weasley said, and to my surprise, I laughed, even though it had no life to it.

"I should have." I said, then shut up as Umbridge did her little cough. I passed notes with Hermione for most of the lesson, and it made me feel a lot better. She and I were so similar it was crazy; she was almost an extension of myself. Hermione nearly dragged me into the Great Hall, and insisted that we should sit together for lunch. I was happy to oblige, especially after we had a long discussion about _An Anthology of Eighteenth Century Charms,_ a book we both had been reading in the library. Eventually, our topic died down, and Hermione started a new conversation.

"So, Sarah, I was thinking…what if we held the meeting at the Hog's Head? No one ever goes in there, and it's so secluded that I doubt we'd be eavesdropped on."

"But won't that be a little inconspicuous; a whole bunch of kids going to the most shady, run-down and unfriendly bar in Hogsmade?" I asked, and Hermione thought about it.

"Maybe, but anyone could be listening at the Three Broomsticks."

"Well, let's look at it logically-" I started, until I noticed Ron's face. It was rapidly turning red. For a second, I thought he was choking. "Are you alright?" I asked, but he shook his head dreamily, starting to grin.

"I don't think I'd ever hear anyone say that but Hermione." He said, and Hermione flushed, making me smile.

"What do you two think?" I asked Harry and Ron, and both of them froze, which I found hilarious. Obviously Hermione did a lot of the thinking and planning in their group.

"Dunno'." Harry muttered finally, stabbing a potato. I looked over at Hermione, and she shrugged helplessly, making me laugh.

"Then let's go to the Hog's Head, it'll be…oh, godammit." I mumbled, seeing Joe flying gracefully over and perching on the pumpkin juice, a letter on his leg.

"Oh dear," Hermione said, recognizing that it was from my parents. I plucked the letter off, and Joe flew away.

"Here goes," I said, and tore it open, ignoring the boy's curious glances.

_Dear Sarah,_

_Your father and I are __**highly**__ disappointed in you. Detentions? __**This early in the school year?**__ Your behavior was incredibly irresponsible, and you should be ashamed of yourself. We don't know what you did to receive your detentions, but if you receive anymore, you will be punished. How dare you tarnish the Wimkil name over nominal school things? Also, you did not properly respond to our last letter, in fact, you didn't write at all, which was __**very**__ rude. Your father and I demand a response from you __**immediately**__to explain yourself. And, once again, we urge you to find better companions. Clearly, they are starting to affect your morals, as shown by these two detentions. Neither of them are trustworthy, and until you reveal what landed you in those two detentions, we will assume that they were responsible. As you can tell, we are very displeased with you, and anxiously await your reply._

_Sincerely,_

_You Mother_

I tore up the letter silently, and stuck it into my bag. I looked up to see Hermione watching me apprehensively, and the boys with confusion. "It's nothing." I said firmly, but Hermione shook her head.

"I doubt it." She said firmly, extending her hand for it. With a sigh, I gave her the pieces, and she repaired the letter with her wand. When she finished reading it, her cheeks were flushed.

"I told you," I said, going to take it back, but Ron plucked it from Hermione, and Harry looked over his shoulder.

"For Merlin's sake, I thought your parents weren't _that_ bad. At least you can tell them that you have new friends." Hermione said, and I chuckled weakly, taking the letter back when Harry handed it to me, shoving it unceremoniously into my bag again.

"They make the Muggles I live with look almost sane." Harry muttered.

"Wait, I thought you were a half-blood?" I said, confused.


	9. Chapter 9

9

Sarah POV

"I am. I live with my mum's sister and her husband. They're Muggles." Harry explained, and I didn't push the point further. But to my surprise, the rest of lunch fell back into easy chatter. Hermione and I were ridiculously alike, and even though I knew that the conversations with me were careful, the boys were very nice too. I could tell that they were holding back information, but that didn't bother me, we barely new each other anyway. Halfway through lunch, they settled into a discussion, and out of things to do, I borrowed the Daily Prophet from Neville. I had been wary of the Prophet, they had become increasingly biased- and their news quality had really dropped. The first few pages were rather plain, not much news. But then I found an article hidden almost in the back of the newspaper, but it had the whole page.

**MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM**

**DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED FIRST-EVER 'HIGH INQUISITOR'**

I heard myself gasp, flattening the paper, trying to ignore a rather large and ugly picture of Umbridge to get to the text. "What's up?" Hermione asked, peeking over my shoulder and stiffening with dislike.

"_In a surprise move last night the Ministry of Magic passed new legislation giving itself an unprecedented level of control at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "The Minister has been growing uneasy about goings-on at Hogwarts for some time,' said Junior Assistant to the Minister, Percy Weasley." _I read, then paused. "Isn't that your brother?" I asked Ron, who seized the paper, then took up reading in a disgusted voice.

"_He is now responding to concerns voiced by anxious parents, who feel the school may be moving in a direction they do not approve.' 'This is not the first time in recent weeks Fudge has used new laws to effect improvements at the Wizarding School. As recently as August 30__th__, Educational Decree No. 22 was passed, to ensure that, in the event of the current headmaster being unable to provide a candidate for a teaching post, the Ministry should select an appropriate person.'" _With a snort, Ron threw down the paper, only for Hermione to snatch it, her face anxious as she read out loud further.

"_That's how Dolores Umbridge came to be appointed to the teaching staff at Hogwarts,' said Weasley last night. 'Dumbledore couldn't find anyone, so the Minister put in Umbridge and of course, she's been an immediate success-"_ "She's been a WHAT?" Harry interrupted loudly, but Hermione continued, _"-an immediate success, totally revolutionizing the teaching of Defense Against the Dark Arts and providing the Minister with on-the-ground feedback about what's really happening at Hogwarts.'_

"Oh, Merlin," I groaned, twisting a braid nervously, reading past Hermione towards the bottom. "It says that she can inspect other teachers and boot them if she wants!" Hermione scanned down and read the rest of the article.

"That's outrageous." Hermione and I said at the same time, making Ron snigger, then laugh harder.

"Can you imagine it when she interviews McGonagall?" He sniggered harder, but Hermione was already standing up, giving the paper back to Neville and sliding her bag over her shoulder.

"Come on, let's see if she's in History of Magic. I can't believe I didn't know about this earlier, I'll have to start getting the Prophet…" she trailed off, nearly dragging us to History of Magic, but Umbridge wasn't there. Bored during the lesson, I glanced down at my hand, where the perfect cursive scars were starting to fade. I traced it with my fingertip with a frown. If Umbridge was getting more power, I had a nasty feeling that I might just be getting more detentions…

That night, while the three made it clear that they needed a private conversation, (something about a dog named Snuffles) I sat in a lone armchair by the fire and started the letter back to my parents.

_Dear Mother, Dear Father,_

_I apologize for the delay in my letter. The curriculum this year has transcended that of last years, and I've been working harder to stay ahead. I also offer my deepest apologies for the two detentions. Although Luke and Danielle were not the cause of them, I recently broke my friendship with them over very racist and crude remarks they made. These came as a surprise, for they had never acted that way before. The detentions themselves were over a dispute with another student, one who is very brainy and surprisingly classy. Under further negotiations, we resolved our issues, and now discuss curriculum quite often. Once again, I express regret for my foolhardiness, and hope that I can make it up to you. Thank you for enrolling me in dueling classes once again, I feel as if they will come in handy someday. Some careers in the wizarding world require excellent dueling skills. Thank you for your letters, and I'll write soon._

_Sincerely,_

_Sarah_

Frowning, I folded up the letter, tucking it into my robes with a sigh. It was pretty easy to lie to my parents and write them like that, and they always accepted it as truth. But that didn't mean that I wasn't anymore ashamed to have to do it. Bitter and annoyed now, I went to sneak to the Owlery to get rid of the _bloody_ letter, but Hermione caught my eye and motioned me over. "Tomorrow," she said, and after a second, I understood what she was implying.

"Hog's Head then?" I asked easily, sitting on the arm of a chair, and she nodded. I tried to forget my troubles and act like nothing was wrong, but it was difficult. "How many people are you telling?" I asked, taking a quick look around and lowering my voice. There were only two people left in the Common Room besides us, and they were on the other side of the room, but I couldn't be too careful.

"Just people we know won't tell before the paper is signed. Like-" Harry stopped talking and paled slightly, squinting at the fire. Curious, I turned to look, but there wasn't anything there.

"Feeling ok, mate?" Ron asked, and Harry shrugged.

"Nothing. I just thought I saw something in the fire." Harry said, and I saw Hermione make almost a nervous twitch towards it, as if she thought Harry meant something else.

"Your eyes are probably tired, Harry." She said after a minute. I slid sideways into the chair, resting over the arms, and Ron fidgeted. For the next few minutes, I noticed them all looking nervously at each other, then at the fire. My irritation at my parents got the better of me, and I decided to break the silence.

"Ok, what's going on with you three?" I said briskly, whisking my legs around to sit up straight, leaning over slightly. All of them looked slightly taken aback. "You're as twitchy as Malfoy when he was a ferret."

"Really, it's nothing." Hermione said rather quickly, shooting a nervous look at the fire. I frowned. Usually the boys bashed Malfoy whenever they could, and they didn't even laugh as I brought up Malfoy's 'ferret-ness' again.

"Ok." I said slowly, then stood up. Whatever was bugging them I'd have to let lie. I was in such a bad mood, and I didn't want to snap at them, especially because of how nice they were being to me. "Then I'm going to the Owlery."

"This late?" Hermione asked confused, looking quickly around the Common Room. Most people had left, only the two girls were sitting in a far off corner, giggling madly with each other. I shrugged, frowning.

"I have to get back to my parents or they'd probably show up here, you know how they are." I said slight bitterness, turning to go, but stopped up short. In the fire, I swear to Merlin I saw a head. The only problem was that it looked just like Sirius Black. In fact, it _was_ Sirius Black. He quickly vanished when our eyes met. "_Merlin,"_ I whispered, taking a step back.

"Are you ok?" Hermione asked, followed my gaze, then seemed to lose all color in her face.

"I-I think I just saw-" I started, then yelped slightly when she yanked me back over to where they boys were sitting.

"Sarah, listen to me. You can't tell _anyone_ what you saw." Hermione said in a fierce whisper. I blinked, confused.

"Hermione, I just saw a _murderer_ in that fire. I don't know what you saw, but-"

"I saw the same thing. But you can't tell _anyone._" She kept whispering.

"Hey, are you two fighting? Three Galleons on Granger!" Said one of the girls gleefully from across the room.

"Hey, nimrods. Why don't you go giggle about your pathetic little lives in the dormitories with the rest of your second year friends and _sod off._" I snapped. The girls gasped at the same time, offended, but left, shooting me dark looks. "Now, Hermione, what the hell are you talking about?" I demanded, and she bit her lip nervously.

"Sirius Black is innocent." Harry spoke up, standing up too. "He's also my godfather." He threw Hermione an angry look as he said it.

"What's your proof that he's innocent?" I asked after a moment, all too aware that Hermione hadn't let go of my arm. I thought fast. Was this some sort of joke? The last time someone shocked me like this, I found out that my ex-best friends were losers.

"Third year. Peter Pettigrew was an Animagus, and he was posing as Scabbers. He was only here to get to Harry. Sirius saw him in a newspaper clipping in Azkaban and escaped to stop him. Pettigrew escaped, but so did Sirius. You have to believe us." Hermione pleaded. I blinked, and it took me a minute to process what she'd said.

"How could he tell that Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew from a newspaper clipping?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm and low. If I looked at their argument logically…

"Scabbers was missing a toe, and all they 'found' of Pettigrew was a finger. He cut it off to fake his own death." Harry said, shooting another furious look at Hermione.

"He also was the one to sell Harry's parents to You Know Who." Hermione said quietly, and Harry scowled deeper at her. I froze- this was something private, and much deeper and more important than me. I was about to ask another question when I suddenly remembered something that had happened to me a _long_ time ago. If I tried to fit it into their story, surprisingly, it made sense.

"I think I believe you," I said slowly, thinking back to third year as the memory that didn't quite make sense hit me. Hermione's cat had done something _very _strange…

"You do?" Ron asked, his voice full of disbelief.


	10. Chapter 10

10

Sarah POV

"Yes," I said quietly, thinking back to third year, around the second time Black got into the castle. I started to explain my interaction to three disbelieving faces…

_It was late, but I couldn't sleep. I was sitting in the Common Room, staring at the slightly glowing embers from the fire. I started when I heard something on the boy's staircase. After a moment, a cat appeared, bushy and huge, with something white in its mouth. I got up, and surprisingly, the cat came over to me, its tail held jauntily high. For awhile, I just pet the cat, until when it rolled on its side. I snatched the white thing in its mouth, thinking that it was going to try and eat something it shouldn't. When I had it, I realized it was paper. Unfolding it, I saw it was a list for the passwords to Gryffindor tower for the next week. Glad that I had taken it from the cat, I went to tuck it away. If a Slytherin or something worse had found this… "Ouch!"_ _I hissed when the cat swiped at my knee, drawing a long scratch, making me drop the paper. The cat snatched it back up and streaked away. That night, Sirius Black had made it into Gryffindor Tower…_

"That's true! Crookshanks did help Sirius. Crookshanks is my cat." Hermione explained unnecessarily. She looked almost desperate that I would believe what they were saying.

"We can't just believe her." Harry said, sounding pained. "You know it's true, Hermione." He said when she shot him a look. They started to have a silent glare battle with each other. I looked at Ron. He was rubbing his neck, looking a mix of distrustful and embarrassed. I rolled my eyes.

"Then I'll sign something, if that's what you want. I don't know what you'd gain from being in contact with him if he _was_ a murderer, so…" I trailed off as they all exchanged a look. I raised my eyebrows, motioning with my hand for them to continue. Then Hermione reached down into her bag, got a quill and a scrap of parchment, and rapped her wand on it. The parchment turned blue for a second, then went back to normal. I hesitated in my mind, but only for a moment. It didn't make sense for the three of them to be in cohorts with a murderer anyway- and I highly doubted that Hermione would try to hurt me.

"I'm sorry, but we have to." She said, handing it to me. Without hesitation, I took the quill and signed in my perfect cursive. Seconds later, I shivered hard as the charm sealed my agreement.

"There. No, do you seriously want to tell me what's going on?" I said, throwing down the quill, looking from Harry (who still looked mad), to Ron (who still looked sheepish), to Hermione (who still looked upset).

"Yes, please tell. I'm very interested to hear this." said a voice, and we all whirled. Sitting in the fire was the head of Sirius Black. He grinned at Harry, but his eyes were tight, obviously wondering if his godson had just screwed him over.

"_Sirius! _How long have you been there?" Hermione hissed, darting over to the fire. He rolled his eyes.

"I had to keep checking back when your friend saw me. But you've handled this very well. I'm assuming she won't tell anyone?"

"I'm sorry, did I miss something? Did I leave the room? You can talk directly to me, you know." I said lightly. "And no, I won't tell anyone." I stood up, joining Harry and Ron as they stood around the hearth too.

"Sirius, this is Sarah. We became friends this year. She's helped me set up a club where we teach ourselves Defense Against the Dark Arts. She's a dueler, so she'll be teaching us some things later on." Hermione explained quickly. Sirius and I made eye-contact again for a moment.

"Well, nice to meet you." Sirius said, raking a skeptical eye over me. I sighed.

"Same. Now, I'm sorry for uncovering one of your secrets already, so should I leave so that you four can talk alone?" I asked, and Harry looked like he was going to nod, but Hermione shook her head.

"Stay. I want two civil heads in this conversation." Hermione said, and Sirius scoffed. But for most of their conversation (about Harry's scar hurting, and our general hatred for Umbridge), I stayed pretty silent. Tensions were still running high, and suspicion being directed at me was only irritating. Then Sirius offered to come down for their next Hogsmade visit.

"I want to see you, I just don't want you chucked back in Azkaban!" Harry was saying, even more upset now. Sirius went to say something, but Hermione cut him off, rounding on me.

"Sarah! Do you think it's a good idea for a wanted man to sneak into Hogsmade all the way from London?" She asked quickly, and the conversation dropped, everyone watching me.

"Only if someone would recognize him, assuming that he would be coming as a dog, not a person." I said wryly, and Hermione opened her mouth, but Sirius talked over her.

"Only Malfoy saw me, but if you can't _risk_ it, then I won't. I should go." Sirius said shortly, and popped out of the fire. For a moment, there was only silence. Then Hermione turned to me and explained quickly that he was mostly alone in a very depressing house that he had very bad memories in.

**OoOoOoO**

The next day, we set out early for the Hog's Head, the boys getting a good laugh when I asked Hermione what would happen if I told the secret of 'Snuffles', and she only got bright red and refused to answer. When Harry suggested that I'd sprout a second head (sarcastically), we had to stop for Ron because he was laughing so hard he was crying. But his laughter died away as we approached the Hog's Head. It was a run-down, shabby place that didn't seem very safe. "I don't know about this, Hermione." Harry muttered as we walked in to the bar. There were only two men in very long draping robes talking in Yorkshire accents and a witch in a veil that covered her whole body. "What if it's Umbridge under that?" Harry asked quietly. I missed Hermione's answer because I was scrutinizing the men from Yorkshire. For a second, I had been afraid that they were Dementors. Then I turned my gaze to the witch out of the corner of my eye as Harry ordered butterbeers. There was something strange about her, but then again, it _was_ the Hog's Head.

"So, how many people are coming to this?" Ron asked, and Hermione checked her watch.

"Just a couple of people, they should have- oh, here they are," Her voice raised in pride as the door opened and a huge crowd of people came in.

"A couple of people, Hermione? _A couple of people?" _Harry said hoarsely, the blood leaving his face. "What have you been telling people? What are they expecting?"

"I've told you, they just want to hear what they've got to say." Hermione said soothingly as the first couple people started to pull up chairs. Neville sat next to me, and we exchanged small smiles. As soon as everyone pulled up, the chatter died, and everyone looked at Harry, expectant. However, it was Hermione who stood up, clearing her throat a bit nervously. "Well, erm…hi. We-we all know why we're here. I mean, we wanted to actually l-learn Defense Against the Dark Arts, not that rubbish Umbridge is teaching." Hermione's voice got more confident, especially when a Hufflepuff said, 'Hear, hear!'

"We'd be learning how to defend ourselves properly, I mean, with real spells. Real duels," She said, giving me a quick glance. "I want to be properly trained, well, because, Lord Voldemort is back." Hermione said rather clearly, but the effect of her words was immediate. Neville yelped but turned it into a cough, some Ravenclaw gave a quiet shriek, and a Hufflepuff tipped over his butterbeer.

"Where's the proof that You Know Who's back?" said the Hufflepuff in a very aggressive voice. As Harry basically told him to sod off, I turned my gaze back to the veiled witch. I could have sworn that she had moved her chair closer, and her head was turned slightly in our direction. A bad feeling started in my stomach, but I made myself look away, and focus back on the conversation, even though I had also just noticed another person- swathed in bandages on our other side. I couldn't tell if he was listening or not either.

"Well, the point is," Hermione said, flushing, but not as badly as Harry, "that we want to take lessons from Harry. Oh, and from Sarah. Sarah's been in dueling lessons since first year." She explained hastily, and I nodded once as everyone looked at me for a moment. "We haven't found a place yet, so we don't have a time for the first meeting, but…" she pulled parchment and quill from her bag, and I knew what was coming next. "But I feel that we should all sign. Just so that we know that someone won't go off to Umbridge." Hermione said, her voice gaining some steel, but now, lots of kids looked uncomfortable.

When no one moved, I made a noncommittal noise in my throat and pulled it towards me, signing it neatly, then passing it to one of the Weasley twins. Slowly, everyone put down their name. While they were signing, I looked back at the veiled witch and the bandaged man again, but nothing seemed out of place. After everyone had signed, we broke up pretty quickly, until we were alone in the Hog's Head.

"Well, I think that went rather well, don't you?" Hermione asked briskly as we left.

"I don't know." I said lowly until we had fully exited the bar. "I still didn't like the look of the other people in there. Call me paranoid, but I didn't like them."

"That Zacharias bloke's a wart." Ron growled, and when I followed his gaze, I recognized the aggressive Hufflepuff from before.

"I didn't like him either," Hermione admitted. "But it doesn't matter." She patted the side of her bag in satisfaction. "We finally got this off the ground."


	11. Chapter 11

11

Sarah POV

The next day, when I came down from the dormitory, I found a large crowd of Gryffindors around the notice board, and I noticed Ron and Harry among them. A lot of the kids were muttering angrily and glaring at the board. When Harry's hands formed into fists, I went over. "What's going on?" I asked, taking the spot of a few second years when they turned away.

"Look," Ron pointed to the parchment of a very official looking notice. I lifted it slightly to read it better, and felt my face harden as I read it. It was a new 'Educational Decree' that banned all clubs. If they wanted to reform, they'd have to go to Umbridge. Anger exploded in me again.

"This is outrageous." I said angrily, slapping the notice back down. "Let me get Hermione," without another word to them, I went back upstairs to get Hermione. When she came down and looked at it, she instantly frowned.

"Someone must have babbled!" Ron hissed, but Hermione shook her head.

"They can't have done," she said in a low voice. She glanced once around the room, as if looking for a sign, but didn't receive one.

"You're so naïve, just because you're so honorable and trustworthy-"

"They can't have, I jinxed the paper we all signed. Trust me, if someone told Umbridge, we'll know exactly who they are, and they'll regret it." Hermione said with a hint of impatience, but smiled to herself at Ron's compliments- even if they were unconsciously given.

"What will happen to them?" Ron asked eagerly. He looked at me and I punched his arm. I knew he was still extremely curious about what would happen to me if I tried to tell about Sirius. It was slightly insulting- as if he expected me to try and turn on them.

"Let's just say that it will make acne look like freckles. Come on, let's go to breakfast." Hermione said, and with one last look at the sign she pushed us out the door. On the way to the Great Hall, Ron continuously teased me about getting huge pustules all over my face if Hermione's charm was to backfire. Luckily, Hermione and I both smacked him at the same time, making him cut it out just as we arrived. Almost as soon as we stepped in, Gryffindors descended on us.

"What's going on?"

"Did someone tell?"

"Are we still going to do it?"

"Of course we're still going to do it," Harry said quietly, getting grins from the Weasley twins. Ron told Fred and George that my face was going to break out into huge pustules and warts and they started taking bets, making Hermione and I very testy. The rest of the day passed fairly quickly, Harry got a letter from Sirius, telling us that he'd be back again tonight, and Ron almost blew up teacup in Charms, which made me laugh so hard I cried- call it karma if you will. That night, I could tell it was very hard for Harry to concentrate, especially because the twins were performing their 'Skiving Snackboxes' to a crowd of people. Somehow, it involved projectile-vomiting, which wasn't so great on the nerves when you were trying to concentrate. It lasted a long time, but I finished my homework early and started to examine the back of my hand. When I clenched my fist, the cursive scars stood out a pearly white: _I must not tell lies._

Slowly, the noise died down, but it was almost midnight before we had the Common Room to ourselves once more. Ron was dozing in an armchair, Harry was staring at a Potion's essay without seeing it, and Hermione had her nose in _Hogwarts, A History. _I felt myself frown as I ran my finger over the letters on my hand, draped sideways in an armchair again. I wondered if my parents had gotten my letter yet, I had sent it early this morning, and Joe was a good, fast owl. If they had, would they finally realize that I was drowning under their pompous, unloving attitude?

"_Sirius!"_ Ron said blearily, jerking up out of his chair, making me jump. Sirius Black's head was sitting in the fire, grinning.

"How are things going?" He asked casually. He glanced at me for a second, as if he was unwilling to believe that I was trustworthy, making me roll my eyes.

"Not good." Harry said. "They passed this 'Educational Decree' so we can't have Quidditch Teams anymore-"

"Or secret Defense Against the Dark Arts groups?" He asked, and I raised my head in surprise.

"How'd you know about that?" Harry demanded. Hermione and I looked at each other, getting up and joining the boys on the hearth.

"You want to choose your meeting places more carefully," Sirius said, grinning more broadly, "The Hog's Head, I ask you…"

"But it was better than the Three Broomsticks! It's always packed with people-" Hermione started.

"Which would have made it harder for you to be overheard. You've got a lot to learn, Hermione." Sirius said kindly, and she looked at me, clearly thinking back to my second thoughts about the Hog's Head. I shrugged. Sirius then passed on a message from Ron's mum, and mentioned an Order.

"Later, Sarah," Hermione said, seeing my confused look.

"So where are you meeting?" Sirius asked eagerly, going back to the club.

"We don't really know yet." Harry said, sparking a brainstorming on places to go. As they thought on, I was thinking hard. I had heard rumors of a room at Hogwarts from my dueling teacher, Madam Marchbanks. She was the spunkiest old woman I had ever met- almost deaf- but she was full of history. One time, she was telling me a story about how she used to sneak off into a secret room at Hogwarts and 'solicit her lovers'. We had been laughing so hard…but what was the place…what was the name…

"Oh," I said, feeling stupid when I finally remembered the name. "Of course, the Room of Requirement!"

"What?" Ron said, confused. For most of the conversation, I had been in the back, sitting crosslegged, not paying attention.

"It's this room that appears only when you need it. It's-" I stopped talking when Sirius turned away from me to look into the side of the fireplace, suddenly alarmed.

"Sirius-?" Hermione asked as he promptly disappeared. Seconds later, a short hand with stubby fingers full of old ugly rings was snatching through the fire. It was _Umbridge_. I leapt up away from the fire, Hermione following suit, and we ran for it. Hermione closed the door behind us in the girls dormitory, and we just looked wordlessly at each other for a moment. That had been _way _too close.

**OoOoOoO**

The next morning, we were talking heatedly in Charms while trying to Silence ravens. I hastily explained what the Room of Requirement was after a fierce debate (mostly between Harry, Ron and Hermione) about Snuffles. When Harry had faintly remembered Dumbledore talking about it sometime fourth year, Hermione was all for it, and decided that we should go there later today. She started passing the word around at lunch. After dinner, I led them up to the seventh floor, but it took me a few minutes to find the tapestry I was looking for. "Ok," I said slowly, trying to remember what my teacher had told me while blocking out the parts about 'soliciting'. "I'm pretty sure that you're supposed to walk past this stretch of wall three times, thinking only about what you need." Looking slightly disbelieving, Harry started walking past it. On his third pass, a door appeared.

"Harry," Hermione said sharply, and he turned, siezing the door handle, then pulled it open. The room we walked into was spectacular. There were cushions stacked against one wall for Stunning, bookshelves full of books, and a large space to duel. "It's perfect!" Hermione trilled, beaming at me, and we grinned at each other. Harry walked over to a table full of strange instruments that I had no idea what they were, and Ron was looking around, open mouthed. Soon enough, people started to arrive, looking at the place in shock, but full of appreciation. Hermione started the meeting by electing Harry leader and giving us a name: Dumbledore's Army. It was fitting- being the Ministry's worst fear.

"Ok, well, I've been thinking about what we should do first, and I thought Disarming would be really good-" Harry started.

"_Please,_" scoffed Zacharias Smith. "If all were going to do is third year spells, then-"

"I used it against Voldemort; it saved my life last June." Harry said very quietly, and Zacharias flushed. "But if you think it's beneath you, you can leave." Harry said coolly. When Smith didn't move, he divided us up into pairs, and I ended up with Neville.

"Oh Merlin, I'm not very good at this," Neville said, his hand trembling in his nervousness.

"Neville, you are a wizard," I said patiently, standing beside him instead of opposite him. "Now, I want you to point your wand, like me, and, this will sound conceited, but feel powerful." I said, standing with my legs slightly apart, a straight back, and a strong arm. Neville looked doubtful, but copied me. "Now, pretend someone you _really_ dislike is standing opposite you. This one spell will make them disappear." I coached, and I noticed a change in Neville's expression. "Ok, now, all you have to do is cast. You know you can do it. You want to, that's all you need. _Expelliarmus!" _I said easily, feeling no guilt when I pictured my parents. My spell shot forth quickly with a spin of my wrist and hit the wall.

"_Expelliarmus!"_ Neville tried. His movement was slow, but he cast it. "I did it," he said in happy disbelief, turning to me. "I did it!"

"See?" I said cheerfully, looking up to see Harry watching us. I raised my eyebrows and grinned, looking back down at Neville. I knew neither Harry nor Ron really trusted me yet- and that was fine. I'd prove it to them every step of the way. "Ok, now, Disarm me." I kept coaching Neville, but let my gaze wander around the room as I did so. People were doing really well casting, but not at doing it quickly. I hoped that in time, they'd get faster, or they'd never be able to duel…

"I did it!" Neville said gleefully, Disarming me when I wasn't paying attention.

"Good!" I said, having to almost leap to the right to catch my wand as he tried to throw it back. "But just remember, _feel powerful._ You can't doubt yourself, alright?" I said firmly, and he nodded. Harry ended the meeting then, and people left in two's and three's until it was just us.

"That was brilliant." Harry said, actually looking happy for once.

"Well, it came from a brilliant idea, _Hermione._" I pressed, nudging her, making her flush a deep pink.

"For Merlin's sake, stop badgering me," she laughed, then grabbed Ron's arm. "Come on, we have to leave in two's, remember? See you two in a bit," she said to Harry and I, then pulled Ron out the door.

"Hey, Sarah, good coaching today," Harry said after a moment. I had wandered over to the table of weird instruments and was looking in a strangely foggy mirror that had people moving in it from far away.

"Oh, you mean with Neville? Thanks," I said, giving him a quick smile, then examining the mirror more closely. "He just needs a confidence boost is all." I continued, frowning at the mirror. "What is that thing anyway?" I asked, looking at it over my shoulder as I went back over to him.

"Foe Glass," Harry said as we walked out, the door disappearing behind us. "It shows you how close your enemies are."

"It's creepy," I said with a shudder, and Harry launched into a story from our fourth year, when the imposter Moody had him in his office, and Harry could see Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape in the Foe Glass before they appeared in real life. "Damn," I said as we stepped back into the Common Room. Joe was nowhere in sight.

"Problem?" Harry asked mildly, and I shrugged.

"I wrote back to my parents yesterday, and usually my owl is back the day after." I explained. "Well, night," I said, starting for the girls' staircase. My foot was on the first stair when Harry's voice stopped me.

"Is it true that your parents tried to give you an exorcism?" His question made me freeze, then turn quickly. "Hermione told me," He said, flushing. I opened my mouth, then closed it. I hadn't been expecting that at _all._ I thought for sure that Hermione wouldn't tell anyone about it. Hot embarrassment flushed through me. If I wasn't freaky enough already- he had to know that I came from parent's that were _beyond_ freaky.

"Um, yeah, they tried. But McGonagall came and sorted everything out." I said quietly, looking at anything but his face. "Night, Harry," I said again, with more force this time, starting up the stairs again, and this time, Harry thankfully didn't stop me.


	12. Chapter 12

12

Sarah POV

The weeks after that awkward conversation between Harry and I were thankfully less uncomfortable. It made me curious and a little worried that the three of them were having conversations about me alone, but if I thought about it, it was perfectly understandable. I knew really important secrets of theirs, and I was basically a stranger to them. The holidays got closer and closer as time went on. After learning that Harry and Ron were going to Ron's house for Christmas, and Hermione would be staying with her parents, Hermione spent her time with me constantly, almost as if in shame, considering that I would be staying at Hogwarts. Even at the last D.A. meeting before the holidays, she insisted that she be partnered with me. Then Harry had some sort of vision about Ron's dad; I heard Professor McGonagall come in and get up Ginny late one night. After that, Harry and the Weasley's disappeared, and Hermione went on vacation, leaving me alone to worry. I had learned very little about Harry's scar and his dreams- but I knew enough to know that what he had seen was really important and dangerous. It made me terribly anxious- especially because they couldn't write me about it with Umbridge watching all the mail.

The holidays wouldn't have been so bad if Luke and Danielle weren't at Hogwarts too. Now that I was alone, I realized just how often they watched me during the day. It made me nervous. Also, Umbridge would waddle the halls now, and if not for Peeves whizzing by screaming an obscenity one time, she almost tried to corner me. Even worse, the remaining members of the Slytherin Quidditch team watched me like a hawk. They still hadn't gotten me back yet, and the holidays would be a great time to do it, with minimal teachers around. To avoid all of them, I went to the Room of Requirement and read the books in there about Defense Against the Dark Arts, even though the Foe Glass still creeped me out. I would stay in there almost all day. The room was amazing; I didn't have to leave to use the restroom or anything. It would also spit me out somewhere different each time, thoroughly confusing Luke and Danielle, who didn't try to hide that they were stalking me now.

Later in the week, I went to the Owlery, but Joe still hadn't come back with a letter from my parents, so I used school owls to send Hermione, Harry and Ron Christmas presents. For Hermione, I got her a book (of course) on Protective Charming. Ron got a homemade 'Dream Team' Quidditch Tracking Kit. I got the idea from Muggle idiots would make dream teams in football and basketball, but I modified it to make it work for Quidditch. Harry had been tricky, but I got him a very old but small book on Dark Magic. It wasn't instructional, but it explained how Dark Magic is created and used. As I watched the owls fly away, I heard someone on the Owlery stairs. Seconds later, Danielle came into view and stopped on the last stair. We both stiffened at the sight of each other. "I thought I'd find you here." She said coldly, tying a letter to an owl after a moment. The way she said it made goosebumps raise on my arms, and it had nothing to do with the cold.

"Is there something I can help you with?" I asked flatly, crossing my arms. She looked out the window to see my owls flying away, just pinpricks in the distance, and she scowled. That worried me more than her appearance. Why were they watching me, and would they really want to know who I was mailing?

"I wanted to talk to you about Harry Potter." She said abruptly, but her voice was full of steel as she looked back to me. "I want to know about him."

"Then ask him yourself." I almost talked over her, filling with dislike. This didn't feel right. Danielle ignored that and stepped closer. I rested my hand on wand handle that was sticking out of my pocket and she stopped. I raised an eyebrow at her, and she scowled at me. I felt a rush of satisfaction at her hesitation. Danielle was still a coward, and she knew that I'd hex her into mush if she tried to force me to do anything.

"I want to know what he's doing. I know he's doing _something_ illegal. I also know that you might have helped with that." She threatened.

"I think you sound like Umbridge, and that you should sod off, that's what I think." I said in a hard voice, brushing past her and leaving the Owlery.

But it seemed as if I couldn't shake them after that. In the Common Room, they were always three chairs away. At meals, they sat closer, and I didn't even dare risk trying to go to the Room of Requirement. If my hunch was right, I was guessing that Umbridge was having me followed; they wouldn't do this on their own. As the days passed, they sat closer and closer, until the last night of break in the Common Room, Luke came over and stood next to me in front of the fireplace. I didn't say anything, just kept watching the flames, letting them burn into my eyes. "Sarah, I know that you're angry with me." Luke started. "And I know that Danielle already tried to talk to you-"

"Enough." I said harshly, raising a hand, making him stop in surprise. "If you are here to ask me about Harry Potter, I'm not going to tell you anything. Now sod off." Luke abruptly grabbed my hand by the wrist, jerking me closer to him. We glared at each other a moment, me with a lot more intensity. I wouldn't have hesitated to hex him just then if he didn't have my wand hand, the prat.

"What illegal activities are you a part of? What is Harry Potter planning for Dumbledore?" He hissed, tightening his grip when I went to jerk away.

"What are you now, Umbridge's bitch?" I mocked. "Did you finally find someone as paranoid and racist as you?" He raised a hand, as if to hit me, but stopped, his hand clenching into a fist. His raised fist trembled, as if he was trying to keep his temper and not punch me in the face.

"I'm only going to ask you one more time. What is Harry Potter planning?" He snarled.

"_Nothing._" I spat back, then gasped when his grip got so tight, my wrist ached.

"You and I both know that's not true-" He started darkly, raising his fist again, as if to seriously hit me when-

"Sarah!" Hermione's voice called, overly cheerful, interrupting him. Luke and I both turned to look. Ron, Harry and Hermione were back. The two boys were standing behind a couch, expressions fierce, and Hermione was striding over, grinning, but I could see the anger in her eyes. "What's happening?" She asked, her tone losing its charm but rather, gaining a threat, glaring at Luke, drawing her wand.

"Nothing, of course." I said, picking up her fake cheery voice, and with an almighty wrench, I pulled free from Luke. We glared bitterly at each other, mine with more intensity. If he hadn't had my wand hand, I would have jinxed him into a pile of jelly. Now that I was free, he seemed to realize how much potential trouble he was in.

"Good," She said sweetly, almost like Umbridge. She hooked arms with me, and walked me back over to the boys. "You alright?" She asked in an undertone.

"I've got a lot to tell you." I said as we pulled even with the boys, rubbing my wrist.

"I could say the same thing." Ron said. "Come on." He lead us up the boys staircase, all the way to the top of the tower, were there was a small unused landing. The place was covered with dust, and a few long forgotten packs of Exploding Snap were lying around, but the place was deserted and private. We had to duck to fit into the low ceiling and then sit slightly hunched over as to not hit our heads.

"Ok, you first," Hermione said to me, sitting cross-legged. I peeked down the staircase before answering, just to make sure we were alone. When that didn't satisfy me, I cast a quick silencing charm on the staircase.

"I think Umbridge was having me followed. Call me the weakest link of the group, I don't know why she went for me, but she tried to talk to me in a hallway, and Luke and Danielle have been following me ever since you left. They've been asking about Harry," I said, and he scowled. "They think you're doing something illegal for Dumbledore, which is total rubbish."

"We'll have to use the Marauder's Map before we go to meetings then. Just to be safe." Hermione said firmly. "Now, we've got _a lot_ to tell you." She immediately launched into an explanation of the visions Harry was having, things that had happened at the Order, and how Harry would now be taking Occlumency lessons. We then had a fierce debate over if Snape was trustworthy. I had reluctantly agreed with Hermione that he was, while they boys obviously said that he wasn't. It was hard to trust him- he was grouchy and very intimidating- not to mention a bastard at times. But he was a Professor, and Dumbledore hired all the teachers. He couldn't be all bad.

"Wow," I said after a moment of silence, thinking hard about the other part of her news, the mysterious 'weapon'. "I wonder what kind of weapon could be at the _Ministry._ That's the only reason I can think of as to why Nagini would be there." I said slowly. Where else would such an important weapon be kept, and what kind of a weapon was it anyway?

"I know right?" Ron said glumly, tracing his finger in the dust, making me laugh.

"Oh, thanks for the present, Sarah." Hermione said, straightening slightly from her slump and grinning at me. "I found the Charm you used for protecting your books from me- very clever."

"Yeah, thanks," Harry said, sounding distracted, but gave me a quick smile.

**OoOoOoO**

I joined Ron and Hermione in the library while Harry went to Occlumency. For awhile, we only talked about school work. But then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luke and Danielle sit down in a far off corner in the library, but they had a perfect view of me. "Don't look up," I said when there was a lull in Ron and Hermione's current conversation. "But gradually, look at the corner by the door. Luke and Danielle just arrived, and they're looking right at us." I said this all casually, even leaning over and crossing out a line on Ron's homework that was wrong, making him scowl. And, thank Merlin, they played along perfectly. Hermione got up first to get a book, helped Ron with his homework, but then sent him to put it back.

"Blimey, what the hell do they want?" Ron asked in an undertone. I shrugged helplessly.

"Now that I think about it, they probably weren't just following me, but all of us. Something tells me that this is normal. Bugger," I hissed as Harry came in, looking pale. Luke and Danielle looked at him then started whispering intently to each other. That's just what we needed, those two prats telling Umbridge about Harry looking pale- she'd probably give him more detentions just to see him every night.

"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione asked, discreetly prodding him to see my ex-friends before letting him continue.

"I don't think I'm cut out for Remedial Potions." Harry said clearly, rubbing his forehead. Inbetween passes of his fingers; I could see that his scar was standing out clearer than ever. "But there is something I have to tell you. This dream I've been having over and over, it leads to the Department of Mysteries. I think that's where the weapon is. The one that Voldemort is looking for." His voice dropped to a whisper. I sat back in my chair, trying to think and coming up with nothing.

"Wow," Hermione said softly. "If it's in the Department of Mysteries it must be powerful." And that's when it clicked.

"Well, hold on," I said with slight impatience, sitting back up again. "What kind of weapon could the Ministry possibly create? Most 'weapons' only involve wands, and a person can have only one. What if it's not a weapon at all?"

"Does it matter? The point is that Voldemort is after it." Harry almost snapped back, but I shook my head, leaning over to speak in a softer voice.

"It matters because if it's not a weapon, then it's probably something a lot more serious and important, something that could affect the Order, maybe even you directly. Maybe even Dumbledore. It's most likely an object that will hurt the resistance, us. Why would he use it on everyone when half of them won't even come to terms with the fact that he's back?"

"If you're right, do you think that we should tell someone?" Hermione said quietly, but Harry shook his head.

"Dumbledore doesn't need to know about every little dream I have; they aren't that important. Come on," he said, standing up, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Let's go back to the Common Room." Neither of us dared to object, seeing the look on his face. As we left, I thought for sure I could hear two steps of footsteps following us…


	13. Chapter 13

13

Sarah POV

That night, Harry had a strange dream, well, almost a premonition that made him feel that Voldemort was very happy. And, the next morning, we found out the news, the news that Azkaban had been broken into and the most dangerous Death Eaters had escaped. To add insult to injury, the Ministry blamed it on Harry's godfather. "I don't understand," I said as Harry glared at the paper, his hands in fists, "how can they print something like this? He's not even a Death Eater." I said, clearly meaning Sirius, disgust coloring my tone. If I didn't believe Harry, Ron, and Hermione before about Sirius' innocence, I did now. That was horrible, framing a man for a crime he didn't commit.

"Exactly," Hermione sighed, as Harry folded the paper angrily, nearly ripping it in half. The day only got worse after that. Danielle and Luke stuck to me like a Permanent Sticking Charm, even being bold enough to walk directly behind us, making me angry enough to hex them. As we were walking to Transfiguration, we passed new notices proclaiming the passing of Educational Decree No. 26, which forbid teachers telling us anything unrelated to their subject. The sight of it made Hermione and I hiss, "That's outrageous!" together.

"That's it," Ron said in an undertone as we passed it, once Danielle and Luke had backed off a bit. "We need to have another D.A. meeting." Hermione was happy to oblige, and we had one that very evening, a direct backlash to the Educational Decrees. I was partnered with Neville again, and this time, I actually had to focus on him. Apparently, the outbreak of Death Eaters was personal to him, and he was pale, working harder than anyone. Halfway through the meeting Harry stopped everyone.

"I figure, now that we know a lot of jinxes that we should know how to duel, especially now that this breakout has happened." He looked at me, so I went over to him. "Sarah, would you show us how to duel?" He asked, and I couldn't help but grin.

"Of course," I said, then took a breath, thinking about where to begin. "Ok, well, just for purposes of being in here, teaching ourselves… don't mess around with this. We're all pretty mature in here, but in reality, dueling is only used to kill people." I finished, and Zacharias Smith snorted in the back, then went 'ow' as someone smacked him. "Also, if people feel as if they can't solidly Disarm or produce a Shield Charm, I don't want them dueling. They should know how to protect themselves first."

"Can everyone do that?" Harry asked, and there were general nods of assent.

"Duels are based mostly on intuition and skill, not theory. However, the very first moments of a duel are broken down into sections that help you direct the duel the way you want it to go. If you master that first, quick technique, you should have a structured duel. The first part to a duel is the identification of if you want to be offensive or defensive. You usually don't have much time to decide this, so you should be good at both. That split second decision can decide if live or die." People glanced at each other somewhat nervously, and I couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry for that depressing bit, but I had to say it. Now, um, it's best if in a duel, you can cast your spells silently. That way, your opponent won't have an advantage. It would be a good idea to practice that on your own." I thought ahead, realizing that I could lecture on this for days- and members would have to practice for homework. "I just want you all to be able to practice without an instructor- we don't meet often enough." I explained, sensing that I was losing some people in the wordiness of my lecture. "As for some theory, a good dueler uses things in their environment while dueling. It's not just about the spells. If you can transfigure something into maybe, let's say, a weapon, then you can have your wand, _and_ that. I just wish I could show you a demonstration." I said, frustrated. I was basically ranting like an idiot, not at all like how I'd planned to do this. People were nodding though, so maybe I didn't confuse all of them.

"Why don't you just keep telling us everything you can, and then we can start actually dueling next time." Hermione called from the back, saving my broomstick.

"Right," I said, trying to get a hold of myself, "well, also, once we get to Patronus', you can actually use them in a duel. It takes a lot of concentration, but it'll work."

"I thought Patronus' only defended against Dark creatures." called a Ravenclaw girl from the back.

"Your Patronus is unique to you; it takes on a different animal form for each wizard, and are like you said, their guardian. They will protect you and aid you in any situation. Their most common form _is_ defense against a Dementor. But as you study spells and how they work further, you will find that you can bend spells to your liking. At least in dueling, anyway." I said, and I felt myself flush at my own nerdy-ness. "Also, in a duel, it's important to analyze your opponent. If you see flaws in how the duel or in their confidence, you can use that to your advantage. Like, ummm…" I felt my gaze quickly scan the crowd and found George Weasley. "George, would you come here?" I asked, and grinning like an idiot, he came over. "Ok. Tell me what you notice about George." I said. This was a classic dueling exercise. You sized up your opponent, looking for weaknesses.

"He's slouching." said a girl.

"He's smiling like a fool." Someone said, and I had strong suspicions that it was Hermione.

"He's standing with his legs apart,"

"He's a ginger,"

"His wand is in his back pocket-"

"Ok, ok," I said, raising a hand, stopping the chorus of voices. "I heard one that was really good, about how he's standing. Now, _I_ know that testing the Skiving Snackboxes hasn't been kind to you or your twin," I said to him, trying not to laugh, and all the girls in the room giggled, while the twins flushed and Lee Jordan bowed his head, making me grin. I'd heard a conversation between the twins and Harry about using essence of murtlap to cure boils that they had in weird places… "So, no offense, but I'd probably aim there first if we were dueling. If anything helps you take out your opponent faster, _do it._" I said, trying not to laugh at the obvious looks of discomfort on George's face.

"Anything else?" Harry asked, letting George meld back into the crowd, and I thought about it for a second.

"Yes," I said slowly, trying to figure out how to put what I wanted to say. "For awhile, I'll be coaching you, telling you what to do. The pace will be slow, and you'll have time to think everything through. But dueling isn't a set pattern of spells you memorize, and it's not always safe. You have to think _independently_ all the time. It's hard. But I know we can do it." I said, and a chorus of agreement went around, and it raised my spirits. I might have sucked in trying to explain a lot of dueling theory in a short amount of time, but I hoped that if I coached everyone individually they'd understand what I was trying to tell them.

"Next meeting, we'll be dueling," Harry said. "And we'll learn how to do Patronus' eventually too. Thanks for listening. See you next time." He dismissed them, and as people were leaving, Hermione came over to me and immediately started squealing.

"Oh my gosh, that was great, really informative, I can't wait until next time! It'll be really exciting!" Hermione bubbled eagerly. Apparently, in her opinion, I hadn't just blathered on like an idiot.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," I said, laughing.

As we left, we made sure to take an obscure way back to the Common Room, but I still kept a careful eye out for Luke and Danielle, even checking the Foe Glass before leaving. Things were going great, and I didn't want them to mess things up. Luckily, thanks to the Foe Glass, the Room of Requirement and the Marauders' Map, I evaded them most of the time.

OoOoOoO

I went with Hermione to Hogsmade two days later after she insisted. At first, I was stupid enough to think that she wanted to spy on Harry on his date with Cho Chang. But when we went to the Three Broomsticks, he wasn't there. Instead, she led me to a table where Rita Skeeter, ex-journalist, was sitting. She glared at Hermione as we sat down. "Well, well, Little Miss Perfect and her friend Braids." She sneered, and reflexively, I reached up and touched my hair, which was in two long braids today with a frown.

"Rita," Hermione greeted her icily, ordering a drink for herself and for me.

"I came, now what do you want?" Rita barked meanly. Her hair was mousy, jewels were missing from her glasses, and her fingernails were chipped. Being out of a job obviously didn't suit her. She took a big sip of the sherry in her glass.

"Patience, Ms. Skeeter," Hermione said with a hint of a smirk. "I'm expecting two more people, and then we can begin." Rita huffed, sending us into awkward and tense silence. Finally, Luna Lovegood came over, sitting next to Hermione. Rita looked at her, muttered something and drank another large gulp from her drink. Hermione passed me a drink and I stirred it aimlessly, wondering where Harry was. This was going to get awkward fast if he didn't show up soon. Ten minutes later, he came in, soaking wet, scowling. He sloshed over and sat next to me. "You're early! I thought you'd be with Cho!" Hermione said.

"Cho?" Rita asked, and I saw her look at me hard. "A _girl?"_ She reached into her crocodile skin hand bag and groped around wildly. I raised my eyebrows. How the _hell _did she get to the conclusion that I was Cho so quickly? That didn't even make sense!

"It's none of your business if Harry's been with hundreds of girls, so you can put that away _right now._" Hermione said in a flinty voice as Rita was just about to pull a quill out of her bag. With a scowl, she snapped her purse shut again. Remembering how Hermione had explained why she had such power over her, I resisted the urge to smile.

"What are you up to?" Harry asked, looking from me, to Hermione, to Luna, to Rita.

"Little Miss Perfect, her sidekick Braids, and Blondie over here were going to tell me when you arrived." She said nastily. "I suppose that I'm allowed to _talk _to him, am I?" she shot at Hermione.

"Yes, I suppose you are." Said Hermione coldly.

"Pretty girl, isn't she, Harry?" Rita asked him out of the corner of her mouth, eyeing me up, looking from me to him suggestively. To my surprise, Harry flushed slightly.

"For Merlin's sake, I'm not Cho." I snapped after Rita waggled her eyebrows. She glared at me, and Luna giggled into her drink.

"And one more word about Harry's love life and the deal's off and that's a promise." Hermione said irritably.

"What deal?" Rita barked a laugh. "You haven't mentioned a deal yet, Miss Prissy, you just told me to turn up. Oh, one of these days…" She took a deep shuddering breath, tightening her grip on her purse.

"Yes, yes, one of these days you'll write more horrible stories about _Sarah,_" she stressed, pointing to me, "Harry and I. Find someone who cares, why don't you?"

"They've run plenty of horrible stories about Harry this year without my help," said Rita, shooting a sideways look at Harry over her glass. "How has that made you feel Harry? Betrayed? Misunderstood? Distraught?"

"He feels angry of course," said Hermione in a clear, hard voice. "He's told the Ministry the truth and they are too idiotic to listen."

"So you actually stick to it- that He Who Must Not Be Named is back? You stand by all this garbage Dumbledore's been telling everybody about You Know Who returning and that you were the sole witness-"

"I wasn't the sole witness," Harry snarled, his fiery temper bubbling over, "there were a dozen or so Death Eaters there as well. Want their names?"

"I'd love them," breathed Rita, now snatching the quill from her bag. "A bold headline, _Potter Names Death Eaters Still Among Us, Harry Potter Accuses: Disturbed teenager Harry Potter, four time survivor of You Know Who…" _The Quill was halfway to her face in a dreamy stupor before she snapped out of it. "But of course," she said, lowering it and shooting daggers at Hermione, "Little Miss Perfect and Braids wouldn't want that story out there, would they?"

"Actually," I said sweetly, stirring my drink, "That's _exactly_ what we want."


	14. Chapter 14

14

Sarah POV

Hermione smiled smugly, while Harry and Rita gaped at me. Luna dreamily sang 'Weasley Is Our King' under her breath and stirred her drink. "You _want_ me to report what he says about He Who Must Not Be Named?" Rita asked in a hushed voice. Her eyes had grown about two sizes, and her hands were trembling a little around her glass.

"Yes we do," said Hermione, grinning at me. "All the facts, exactly as Harry tells them. He can tell you anything, all the details, all the Death Eaters, what Voldemort looks like, oh for Merlin's sake." She muttered, throwing a napkin at Rita when she jumped, spilling her drink all down her front at Voldemort's name. Rita mopped at the front of herself, blinking rapidly, as if trying to realize what we'd just said. Then she seemed to get a hold of herself.

"The _Prophet_ won't print it. No one believes his crazy story. If you let me right it from a more…_delusional_ angle-"

"We don't need any more stories bashing Harry," Hermione interjected. "He deserves the opportunity to tell the truth."

"There's no market for a story like that," Rita said coolly.

"You mean Fudge won't let the _Prophet _print it." I fired back, and for a moment she stared at me before leaning closer.

"So Fudge is putting pressure on the _Prophet_, but it's the same thing. No one will print this story; it's not what people want to read. It goes against the public mood."

"I thought a newspaper was supposed to uncover new stories, and go against public opinion to tell the truth, not what people want to hear." I said frostily, raising an eyebrow.

"The _Prophet _exists to make money, you foolish girl." Rita very nearly spat.

"My dad thinks that it's an awful paper," Luna piped up unexpectedly, turning her round, slightly protuberant eyes on Rita, who leaned back at the sight of Luna. "That's why he started _The Quibbler._"

Rita snorted so loudly, other tables looked over to us. "_The Quibbler?_ I could manure my garden with _The Quibbler._" I frowned at her, and she scowled back.

"Then you can change its tone, because that's who will be publishing it." Hermione said sweetly. Rita looked at her, dumbstruck.

"You think anyone will take you seriously?" She sniggered. I glared at her and she stopped, taking a swig from her drink. I had just started talking to Luna Lovegood this year, and despite her strangeness, I thought she was a really great person. Rita didn't have any right to snub her and her father like that.

"Some people won't, but the _Prophet's_ version of the Azkaban breakout was missing a lot of facts, and people will be wondering whether or not there is a better version of what happened. If it's in a more…_unusual_ paper, they might be more inclined to read it." Hermione said confidently. Rita looked at her a moment, looking rather shrewd.

"Let's say that I'll do it," she said. "What will you pay me?"

"Daddy doesn't pay anyone to write for the magazine," Luna said dreamily.

"I'm supposed to do this for _free?"_ Rita rounded on Hermione, looking as if smoke was supposed to be coming out of her ears.

"Well, yes," she said casually. "Otherwise, as you well know, I will inform the authorities that you are an unregistered Animagus." Rita stared at her for a long time, looking very displeased, and that was putting it lightly.

"I suppose I've got no choice then, have I?" She said at last, pulling out her quill and the parchment again.

"Okay, Harry? Ready?" I asked him. For the majority of the conversation, he had been silent, staring at his glass. Now he looked a little taken aback, and I hoped that he wouldn't back out.

"I suppose," Harry said, watching Rita, who was poised to take notes.

"Fire away then, Rita," Hermione said placidly.

OoOoOoO

A few days later, while we were sitting in the Great Hall eating, a huge flock of owls came down, all jostling for position to Harry. I ducked as one tried to land on my head, then snatched its circular package from it. I passed it to Hermione, who slid it open. A copy of _The Quibbler_ rolled out, it's headline in large print. Harry grinned sheepishly at us from underneath it. "These must be people writing in to you, Harry!" Hermione said, snatching a letter and tearing it open. Ron and I followed suit.

"This one thinks you're off your rocker," Ron started, balling it up and throwing it over his shoulder.

"This one- yikes, I won't tell you what they say, it's not appropriate," I said, crumpling it and grabbing another.

"This person believes you! 'Having read your side of the story I am forced to the conclusion that the _Daily Prophet_ has treated you very unfairly…Little though I want to think that He Who Must Not Be Named has returned, I am forced to accept that you are telling the truth!' Harry, this is great!" Hermione said excitedly.

"What is going on here?" Asked a sickeningly sweet voice of Umbridge. The four of us slowly turned, our hands full of envelopes. Owls swooped around the horrid woman, but she didn't seem to notice. Her piggy eyes were fixed on Harry.

"People have written to me because I gave an interview," said Harry after a moment. "About what happened to me last June." Dead silence fell, minus the mad flapping of the owls around us.

"An interview?" Umbridge asked, her voice higher and more strained. She lost the color in her face, and I had to fight down the urge to laugh. She was getting _exactly_ what she deserved.

"Here," Harry threw _The Quibbler_ at her, and she caught it. Her eyes quickly scanned the front page, her face turning a nasty violet color.

"When did you do this?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"Last Hogsmade weekend." Harry replied nonchalantly.

"There will be no more Hogsmade visits for you, Mr. Potter. I've tried to teach you over and over again not to tell lies. I see it hasn't worked. 50 points from Gryffindor and another weeks worth of detentions." Umbridge said, almost baring her teeth before quickly going back up to the staff table. She banned _The Quibbler _fairly early in the day, but it seemed that by the end of it, everyone had read it and was talking about it. The majority of the mail Harry was receiving was positive, something that made Hermione and I _very _happy. Despite Rita's unwillingness to write the article and the combined worry from Hermione and I, it had worked perfectly.

That night, Harry had his dream about Rookwood giving Voldemort new information that none of us understood. I used the dream as further evidence to suggest that it wasn't a weapon at all, because how could you retrieve a _weapon_ from the Ministry without being seen? But then Hermione just fired back that maybe the weapon was very small, which caused us to deliberate for about twenty minutes. Harry remained silent, and I knew that he was dwelling on the fact that in his dream, he _was_ Voldemort. It probably scared him more than he would admit.

"Then let's have a D.A. meeting," I spoke up after Hermione started to chastise Harry for not being better at Occlumency, which was probably the last thing he needed. Harry shot me a grateful look from behind Hermione's back.

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "Besides, you haven't finished explaining dueling."

"Alright, let's call one," Hermione said with a sigh. "We'll have one tomorrow."

So we did. It took me awhile to get there, though. To throw Luke and Danielle off of my trail, I made Ron, Harry and Hermione go first, so that Luke and Danielle wouldn't be able to find me as I went around the long way. But, somehow, they did find me. In the end, I had to hide in the Prefect's Bathroom (with thanks to Ron and Hermione) until they gave up. By then I was already late, and I had to basically run to the seventh floor. "Sorry," I gasped, slipping inside and crossing to Harry. On the fifth floor, I thought I heard someone running after me, so I had to sprint to lose them.

"You ok?" Ron asked, watching me as I panted lightly, drawing my wand.

"Fine," I said with a smile, which he didn't buy, because he poked Hermione as Harry got everyone's attention. Hermione looked at me and frowned. We locked eyes for a second, but I looked away when Harry spoke.

"Hey, part two for dueling. Then we'll learn Patronus' next time, so we can use them while we duel." Harry said clearly, so that everyone could hear.

"Right, so review. Transfiguration is handy in duels. Transfiguration is not your only tool in a duel, but it is one of your most flexible. I hate to coin a phrase, but _broaden your minds._ There is more to dueling than running through a rehearsed plan. It is spontaneous and unpredictable. Also, any seventh years in the room?" I asked, but everyone shook their heads. "Well, later on, when we can Apparate, it adds a whole dimension to dueling. You have to concentrate to be able to move around and keep dueling without losing focus. It's difficult."

"Wait, you're a fifth year. How'd you know?" Zacharias Smith said rudely from the back, and I felt myself flush.

"I've been taught the theory of Apparition, but it's illegal for me to do it at the present. However, I've talked with those who do Apparate while they duel." I explained, willing the flush in my face to go down. "Oh, and other review, tying into next time," I said, eyeing the clock. "If you can keep a Patronus going while you duel, you can have it do things for you. Some of you already know that you can send Patronus' to people with messages, but they can also distract your opponent and block Dark spells." I looked to Harry, finished. That was all I could do for now. I was itching to get into a classroom setting and show kids how to duel. This was going to be fantastic!

"Cool, well, that's it for tonight. We'll message you for when the next meeting is. We'll be doing Patronus', so think of some happy memories for you to use!" Harry had to shout as the mass of kids started to drift for the door. "Good job," he said to me, and I shrugged.

"I'll feel better when I get a chance to teach, not instruct." I said, already worrying about trying to teach what I had been taught over 4 years in the last few months of school. I could talk hot shit in front of the classroom and make it sound cool, but dueling was really hard. I didn't want Order members to give up because they didn't understand all the complexities of dueling.

"Don't worry about it," Harry said, as we walked for the door. "Now, I'm assuming that you were followed here, weren't you?" He switched subjects fast, making me blink, then frown. I really was hesitant admitting it- my friends had enough to worry about.

"Yes. At first it was both of them, but towards the end, it only sounded like one person. I can't be sure."

"We'll figure it out," Ron said in a surprisingly comforting way. As we walked back to the Common Room, I felt a sense of security. Maybe, just maybe, they trusted me now. That was the best feeling in the world.


	15. Chapter 15

15

Harry POV

If it hadn't been for the D.A., I knew that I would have considered leaving Hogwarts. Even time with the Dursley's wouldn't have been as cruel as what Umbridge was doing. And early in the year, I thought Sarah would screw us over and go tattle to Umbridge. I had been furious with Hermione for becoming friends with Sarah and telling her our secrets, but her information on dueling so far made it all worth it, and so had her loyalty. Even if she hadn't actually set us dueling yet, it still was interesting to hear about dueling the way she talked about it. But it also made me remember second year and the Dueling Club, which made the whole situation even funnier; I couldn't stop picturing Malfoy's face when I blasted him off his feet. Despite Hermione's better judgment (she wanted D.A. meetings to be spread out) Ron, Sarah and I insisted on having one sooner. Patronus' were really important, and Sarah wanted everyone to have an idea of how to cast one so we could try it in dueling. So we started out practicing Patronuses, even though it was entirely the wrong situation to teach them in, (a brightly lit classroom full of happy feelings) everyone was eager to try. Sarah already knew how to cast one, and helped Neville while I helped the others. Her Patronus, a finch songbird, flew constantly above the proceedings in quick swirls and circles, whistling. "Come on, Neville, something happy. What makes you _really_ happy?" Sarah asked Neville patiently as I passed them, trying not to stand too much next to Cho. The door to the room opened, then closed. Suddenly, everyone fell silent, and something tugged on my knee. Looking down, I saw that it was Dobby, but his eyes were wide with fear.

"Hi, Dobby! What's going on, what's the matter?" I asked, already filling with dread.

"Harry Potter, sir," Dobby squeaked, trembling head to foot, "Dobby has come to warn you…but the house-elves have been warned not to tell-" He made a beeline for a wall, to hurt himself, but I caught him, holding him still. Most of the Patronuses in the room died except for Sarah's, which was now silently flying in circles up by the ceiling, suddenly a lot more ominous.

"What's happened, Dobby?" I asked firmly.

"She…she…she…" Dobby squeaked, past fear. I stared at him for a moment before it sunk in.

"Umbridge?" I whispered, horrified. Dobby nodded frantically. "What about her, Dobby?" I asked quickly. "Does she know about us, about the D.A.?" Dobby nodded again, his ears flapping frantically. "Is she coming?"

"Yes!" Dobby howled, obviously sickened that he told and didn't hurt himself.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? RUN!" I bellowed, and people streamed for the door. "Dobby, go back to the kitchens, I forbid you to hurt yourself, and if asked, lie and say that you didn't see us or tip us off! Now go!" I shooed Dobby out the door. D.A. members were fleeing every which way. I was the last out, slamming the door behind me. I went right, running for the boy's bathroom. Suddenly, something caught me around the legs; I fell and slid about six feet on my front before I could roll onto my back. Malfoy was standing in the hallway, laughing. Suddenly a bolt of blue light hit his legs, making him fall over with a grunt. Sarah stepped out of the shadows, and kicked his wand away, her expression anxious.

"Come on, Harry, let's get out of here." She said, tucking her wand away, looking down the left side of the hallway nervously as I scrambled to my feet.

"I don't think so," said a falsely sweet, girlish voice. Sarah spun, raising her wand, but froze when she saw Umbridge. Umbridge strode over and seized Sarah's upper arm, and judging by Sarah's face, it hurt. Then she snatched mine and yanked me to my feet. A moment later, Malfoy got up, smirking.

"Mr. Malfoy, go find others of the Inquisitorial Squad and see if you can round up any other members. You two," she added, giving us a little shake, "Can come with me to the headmaster's office." She marched us off then, and we arrived at the stone gargoyle within minutes. "Fizzing Whisbee," Umbridge almost sang, and then she pulled us up the steps, and entered Dumbledore's office without knocking. The office was full of people and tension. The Minister, at least three Aurors, McGonagall, and Percy Weasley were all standing around, as if waiting. As the door swung shut, Sarah wrenched her arm free with a scowl, and I did the same.

"Well," Fudge simpered, looking absolutely delighted. "Well, well, well…"

"He was heading back to Gryffindor Tower, Malfoy's boy cornered him. Then she," Umbridge glared at Sarah, "jinxed him. Obviously trying to make a getaway for Potter and herself."

"Hmmm," Fudge pondered Sarah for a moment, who lowered her head, looking like she wanted to vanish and disappear. "Well, Potter…I assume you know why you are here?" On the off chance, I had glanced at Dumbledore, who was looking straight ahead, past me, but he shook his head just the littlest bit.

"No." I said firmly, and glared back at Fudge.

"You _don't _know why you are here?"

"No, I don't." I replied, and Fudge's face almost turned purple. Once I made him angry enough to order Umbridge to get their 'informant', silence descended, and his look turned to Sarah as we waited for Umbridge. She was looking with increasing anger and intensity at her spot on the carpet, obviously over her first fear and was now trying to control her temper. It was surprising that someone as small as her would have such a fiery temper.

"According to Dolores, you're new to Potter's gang this year," he said abruptly, making her tense. "I wonder what they've told you…I wonder if you've been lead astray or not." His voice turned to a sick form of comforting. "Would you tell me about Potter if you knew that he's lied to you?" Fudge took a step towards Sarah, who took a step back, locking her jaw, looking away from the floor and across the room, avoiding Fudge. My gaze flicked to Dumbledore, and I saw his brows crease slightly, and McGonagall's eyes tightened. "What do you know about this group? About Potter? About Dumbledore? About Black?" He demanded suddenly, making Sarah flinch at Sirius' name. Fudge dived on it, moving closer until Sarah was pressed against the wall. Kingsley slowly drew his wand. "Do you know about Sirius Black? _What do you know?"_ He asked, raising his voice. For a moment, they only looked at each other, Sarah's eyes with a slight edge of fear, and Fudge looked almost crazed. "I know you know something." Fudge breathed, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Cornelius," Dumbledore warned, but it was too late. Sarah opened her mouth, her eyes flashing to impressive anger that made Fudge back off. Suddenly, she turned an impressive shade of white. My mind flashed back to Hermione's hexed sheet of paper, realizing that her hex must have started to work. Sarah clapped a hand to her mouth as the door opened and Umbridge came back in with Cho's friend Marietta.

"What's going on here?" Umbridge asked. Seconds later, Sarah threw up…a _slug?_ Suddenly, I remembered back to second year, when Ron's destroyed wand made him belch up slugs and I had to fight down the urge to laugh.

"I'll never tell you—an-anything- you p-prick-" Sarah gasped out before belching up another slug. Fudge backed up, staring at the slugs with a kind of horrified fascination, not even commenting on the fact that he'd just been called a prick.

"Urgh!" Fudge backed up further as one of the slugs started to venture across the carpeted floor. "Dawlish- escort her to the Hospital Wing- she's obviously been cursed by Potter or his friends, go on," He made shooing motions at Dawlish, who gingerly took Sarah's arm and led her out. As the door closed behind them, I saw McGonagall and Kingsley exchange confused but relieved glances.

Sarah POV

I barely paid attention to the Auror leading me to the Hospital Wing, wincing each time I threw up a slug, leaving a trail behind us. "Listen, I must get back. Can you make it on your own?" He asked after the fifth slug. I just nodded, and he immediately started to stride back to Dumbledore's Office. Instead of going to the Hospital Wing, I staggered to Gryffindor Tower. The place was dark, but Hermione had to be around somewhere…

"Sarah?" Ron asked, slipping out from behind a curtain, looking alarmed to see my hunched over stature. "What's going on, what's wrong? Where's Harry- ugh!" He backed away as I threw up another slug.

"Umbridge c-caught Harry and I, took us to Dumbledore's o-office-" I threw up another slug, and Ron quickly conjured a bucket, sitting me in an armchair. "Fudge asked me if I k-knew anything about S-Sirius-" Talking seemed to make the slugs come faster, but Ron squeezed my arm, frightened now. "I opened my mouth t-to tell Fudge to s-sod off and-" I basically finished my sentence by throwing up again.

"Hermione's curse!" Ron exclaimed, then winced as I threw up another slug. "That happened to me second year, that's probably where she got the idea…but I have no idea where she is to reverse it-" He winced again as another slug came forth. "Harry!" He said, looking up as someone else came in. "What's going on?"

"Dumbledore's left the school. Fudge thinks that he organized the D.A. to create an army against him. This is all my fault!" Harry very nearly shouted, and I heard him kick something. Panic filled me up. Dumbledore had _left? _I went to ask Harry for more information, but seconds later, I threw up another slug. "Where's Hermione?" He asked Ron, sitting on the arm of the chair I was in, peering into the bucket, which held an impressive amount of slugs.

"Dunno." Ron said somewhat anxiously. "But apparently the curse started as soon as Sarah went to swear at Fudge. Maybe it was brought on by the question? I have no idea." Ron babbled nervously. If I wasn't puking, it would have been funny. I did succeed in calling the Minister of Magic a prick too; that had to be worth something.

"_W-what?" _I gasped inbetween slugs, when I finally had a chance to talk. "Dumbledore h-has left?" Speaking again made me throw up three slugs I a row. Dumbledore couldn't leave the school, not now. And if he did have to leave, it shouldn't have been because of us, a stupid little Defense Against the Dark Arts group- a bunch of kids.

"_Evanesco."_ Harry said flatly, and the slugs vanished in the bucket. "He escaped. Fudge was going to arrest him." After a pause with me shuddering, trying not to throw up another slug, Harry said, "Thank you. For not…_wanting_ to talk about Sirius." I looked up. Harry was white-faced and furious, but he was looking at me gratefully.

"N-No problem," I said shakily, with a tiny laugh, before throwing up slugs progressively faster.

"_Hermione!" _Both boys chorused, relieved, as Hermione finally arrived after what seemed like half an hour of tension, shuddering, and spewing slugs.

"What happened? Sarah, are you belching slugs?" Hermione asked in surprise. "Did she tell anything?" She asked Harry urgently, not even bothering to get an answer from me.

"Fudge asked her what she knew about Black, and she went to tell him to sod off before she started throwing up slugs." Harry explained flatly. "Didn't you call him a prick- to his face?" He asked me, and I nodded to the bucket.

"Oh, Sarah I'm sorry, the spell was to kick in as soon as someone asked you the question, as a precaution. _Subsisto tardus."_ She quickly muttered the countercurse and I let my head fall back as a sharp pain went through my stomach. But as soon as it passed, the nausea went away. I slowly let out a breath.

"Merlin, this is our entire fault." I whispered finally, closing my eyes from the ceiling, my voice hoarse. "What will happen now that Dumbledore is gone?" I asked, and opened my eyes, looking at my friends. Ron still looked grossed out by my slugs, Hermione looked worried, and Harry was still white faced. None of them had the answer.


	16. Chapter 16

16

Sarah POV

I had asked my friends what would happen now that Dumbledore was gone. What happened was that Umbridge was made Headmistress of Hogwarts. Now that she had almost unlimited power, things got worse fast. On her very first day she created the _Inquisitorial Squad._ It was basically a special group of Slytherins who were bullies, and had the power to take away points. To check out the damage ourselves, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I went to look at the glass hourglasses that held the house points before breakfast. Only Slytherin was unaffected. "This is outrageous." I hissed, watching more glass rubies fly up the Gryffindor glass. Despite my hatred of change, I'd changed a lot this year- all to combat Umbridge. But this was the last straw- I wasn't going to take this crap anymore. I had a wand, and I knew how to use it.

"Well, well…Wimkil." A voice sneered, and I heard Hermione stiffen as I turned around from the hourglasses, plait swinging in my haste. The captain of the Slytherin Quidditch Team, along with Malfoy and a boy I didn't know where smirking at our group.

"Can I help you?" I asked flatly, already realizing that I was screwed.

"Ah, watch your tone, Wimkil." Malfoy mocked. "It's disrespectful to address members of the _Inquisitorial Squad _that way." He pointed to the silver 'I' on his chest, just under his prefect badge. I snorted. If I had the power, I'd take that little 'I' and Transfigure it into a Cockroach Cluster and make him eat it. If only.

"Can I help you?" I repeated, impatient. All three boys grinned at each other.

"_Reducto!"_ said the captain of the Quidditch Team, shooting over my head. I ducked as the Gryffindor hourglass exploded, sending rubies all over the floor. "Professor!" Flint called, trying not to grin, motioning over Snape. "Professor, she just exploded that hourglass!" he worked to sound indignant as Snape swept over, casting an eye over the rubies all over the floor and the broken hourglass.

"That's not true! Why would I break my own hourglass?" I said furiously, realizing that this was payback for hexing them so long ago. I shouldn't have forgotten about it…

"It's true, Professor." Hermione said, glaring at Malfoy, who was hiding behind the other boy, doubled up with laughter. I fingered my wand-handle for just a second, before taking a breath, trying to control my temper. These days, it was always close to the surface.

"Check his wand. Flint cast the spell, not Sarah." Ron spoke up, but a nasty sneer played across Snape's mouth.

"Well, I feel that this isn't my _authority_. Why don't you take Miss Wimkil to our new Headmistress?" Snape suggested. His eyes danced with malice.

"Of course," said the boy I didn't know, stepping forward, leering.

"Don't make me hex you," I warned, whipping out my wand, not even caring that I was threatening a student right in front of Snape. The boy halted, narrowing his eyes. We glared at each other for a full five seconds before-

"That's not fair!" Harry shouted as Malfoy disarmed me from behind, smirking. I whirled as he caught it, my empty hand clenching into a fist. I had to take a moment to remind myself to stay calm. If I got angry, Harry would certainly join in, and it would only get him in more trouble.

"Don't," I said quietly to Harry as Flint roared with laughter, making myself uncurl my fist, even though the look on Harry's face, (pure fury) was exactly how I wanted to feel. "Don't do it, don't do anything, you can't be in detention again-"

"Good advice. Now let's go." said the boy, taking my upper arm. I looked back and shook my head at Harry and Ron, who looked like they wanted to jump Snape. We walked up the marble staircase, passing students who watched us, confused.

"Not so cocky now, are you, Wimkil?" Malfoy sniggered as we walked. I threw him a look, raising an eyebrow.

"If you weren't part of the Inquisitorial Squad, I'd have hexed you into a pile of mush right now, and you know it." I said calmly, glaring at the boy when he tightened his grip on my arm. Malfoy looked furious, but we had arrived at Umbridge's office. He threw my wand at me, which I caught, and I yanked my arm free from the boy. Without looking back, I walked into Umbridge's office.

"Ah, Miss Wimkil. Please, sit." She said sweetly.

"Professor, she's the one who smashed the Gryffindor hourglass." Flint said.

"That's a lie." I said clearly, keeping my voice calm. Umbridge just smiled.

"Thank you, boys, that will be all." She dismissed them, then studied me, the smile falling from her face as the door closed. "Miss Wimkil, I'm sure you've noticed that I've had your old friends following you. This is because I'm concerned for your safety. Potter and his friends have been lying to you, my dear." She tried the 'comforting' approach, just like the Minister had, and it almost made me laugh.

"Begging your pardon, Headmistress, but they aren't lies. Not to me." I said politely, remembering my promise at the beginning of the year to get under Umbridge's skin. This was the perfect chance.

"May I get you something to drink?" She asked, after staring at me with hard eyes.

"Diet water," I said, remembering an immature Muggle joke I had heard a long time ago. Umbridge blinked, and I worked to keep my face perfectly blank even though I was sniggering on the inside. Umbridge had no idea that 'diet' water didn't exist.

"I'm sorry? Water?" She asked, going to conjure, but I shook my head.

"No, _diet_ water." I corrected, and a crease formed between her eyebrows. I let her be confused for a moment longer as I looked back at her innocently, trying to think of a Muggle drink I could ask for next. "Then a Coke please." I said finally, and the crease deepened.

"Don't play games with me, Miss Wimkil. Here," she conjured me some tea, and 'added' cream and sugar with her back to me, but took far too long for me to believe that she wasn't up to something. "Now, drink up, we have much to discuss." I locked eyes with her, and didn't drink. She leaned forward, her flabby face adding several more chins to her original chin. "The Minister and I have suspicions that Potter has told you things. I won't let a mere _child_ stand in my way." She said this very quietly and dangerously.

"Well, I'm not a child, ma'am, so that shouldn't be a problem." I said politely, and her face reddened.

"Detention, Miss Wimkil. Everyday from four thirty to eight. My office. You obviously cannot stop telling lies. And I will learn what you know, Miss Wimkil. You can be sure of that." She said coldly, a clear dismissal.

"I won't be late." I said calmly, turned and left, walking quickly to not miss the end of Potions. As I walked, I felt all the anger I'd forced down start to bubble back up again until I was almost seeing red. I slipped in, walking directly over to Hermione, Ron and Harry and sitting down, feeling my hands shaking with rage.

"What happened?" they all demanded at once.

"I have detention everyday from four thirty to eight." I said, trying to say it calmly, but anger edged over my words.

"_What?"_ Hermione hissed angrily.

"It's revenge, of course. Remember at the beginning of the year, when I tried to hex the Slytherin Quidditch team? Oh, and Umbridge tried to get me to talk about you again," I said to Harry, clenching my right hand into a fist, feeling the scars stand out on my skin. I would cut them open again tonight.

"I don't believe this," Harry snarled quietly, and I caught his wrist before he added a wrong ingredient to his potion. "They can't just _harass_ you like this."

"Don't worry about it. I'm already in detention, so I might as well hex a few members of the _Inquisitorial Squad_ while I'm at it." I glared at my bag as I said their name…

That afternoon, I reported to Umbridge's office, sat down, and started writing lines without having to be asked. I felt her eyes on me, and I knew that she was unnerved, angry, wanting to kill me, or all three. I kept writing without hesitation as the room got darker and darker, only stopping to flip over the parchment she had given me because I ran out of room. I couldn't see the scars anymore because the whole back of my hand was covered in blood, and it had streaked down my arm and wrist, leaving strange blots on the page. After awhile, I couldn't even feel the pain anymore, making it easier to write faster. At last, she cleared her throat and called me over. "Hand," She said, and I gave my hand to her. Her eyes grew a little as she looked at the back of my hand, the etchings obscured by the blood. As she tilted my hand, drops fell off my fingers and onto her desk.

"You may go. Return tomorrow." She said after a long silence. I gave her a polite nod and once out of the room, let my face twist, walking over to a torch to see my hand better. With a wince, I conjured a handkerchief and wrapped my hand in it, the white instantly blossoming to red. Then I walked quickly to Gryffindor Tower, cursing Umbridge the whole way there. The three of them were waiting, all with stony faces, by the fire.

"Merlin, what the-" Hermione started, seizing my hand when she saw it and pulling back the handkerchief, making me wince. In the firelight, my hand looked even worse, but it had stopped bleeding. Now you could clearly see in my perfect cursive, etched in deep, _I must not tell lies._

"Bloody hell!" Ron said, standing up in shock.

"What, did she make you write with two quills at once? That's insanity!" Harry said angrily, snatching my hand from Hermione.

"Don't worry about-" I started, but Ron snorted loudly.

"We're going to worry, Sarah. Look, the blood goes all the way down your arm-!" He pointed it out, and Hermione quickly murmured a spell, cleaning the blood away.

"It's a lot of blood." Hermione said quietly as I sat down. I just shrugged, wanting the conversation to be over, and they got the hint. I looked up later to see Harry frowning, lost in thought, Ron was swearing under his breath; going back to his homework, and Hermione was wringing her hands nervously. After awhile, I realized that Hermione was look at Harry repeatedly, obviously upset with him.

"What's the matter?" I asked as Hermione threw a look at Harry again.

"Harry's breaking into Umbridge's office tomorrow to Floo Snuffles." Hermione said almost shrilly, but she kept her voice down and used Sirius' nickname as a precaution. I looked at Harry for conformation.

"Hermione, I have to," Harry said, sounding pained, and quickly explained about what he had seen in Snape's Pensive.

"Well," I said at last, rewrapping my hand, "you're counting on the best troublemakers ever to give you time, so I suppose that's a good thing. But you better be smart about it. The last thing you need is to be expelled."

"This is outrageous," Hermione groaned, putting her face in her hand as Harry grinned.


	17. Chapter 17

17

Harry POV

The next day, the twins set off their diversion, as planned, and I made it into Umbridge's office without any trouble. Traveling with only my head in the fire was awkward and uncomfortable, but I made it. I ran into Lupin first, who went and got Sirius for me. As soon as they were there, I launched into my story about my dad in Snape's Pensive. It took a lot of convincing, but Sirius and Lupin finally made me believe that my dad grew out of being so arrogant. A lapse fell in our conversation as I thought hard about the memory I had seen. It was a relief that my dad had grown out of being such a bully. He had painfully reminded me of Draco Malfoy- and it made me understand a little as to why Snape hated me so much. "How's your friend?" Sirius asked after a moment, making me blink.

"Sorry?" I asked.

"The new one, who had her hair in braids?"

"What about her?" I asked, and Sirius shrugged.

"Kingsley came in last night with a rather odd story, something about her belching slugs?" He asked, looking curious, and I fought down the urge to laugh, but barely.

"We made her sign an agreement saying that she wouldn't tell about you when asked, and Hermione jinxed the paper. Fudge was badgering her about you after we were caught and when she went to yell at him, she started puking up slugs." I said, and Sirius started to snigger as Lupin looked shocked.

"How did Hermione ever think of that?" Lupin asked as Sirius hid his face behind a hand, starting to full out laugh. I opened my mouth to answer, but I heard footsteps. With a hasty goodbye, I left, whipping on the Invisibility Cloak just before Filch came in, seized a form, and left. It turned out that the twins 'diversion' was turning the entire fourth floor into a swamp, and they had no intention of staying. They left Hogwarts before they could be expelled, leaving the whole place talking. Later that night in the Common Room, I told Hermione, Ron and Sarah (when she got back from detention) about how things went.

"He _laughed?"_ Sarah asked, sounding incredulous, writing an essay with her left hand, looking slightly insulted. Ron started sniggering, but then stopped seeing Hermione's glare. Ron still found the whole thing funny. He had been brainstorming what the curse was weeks before its full affects actually happened. He still couldn't believe that Hermione came up with something that gross.

"It's not funny Ron, it even happened to you," Hermione said, exasperated. "_And _now they think I'm some obscure kind of jinxer!" Hermione sounded so distressed that Sarah started laughing…

Time raced on, and sooner than I would have liked, the last Quidditch game of the season, Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw was on. Ron was still, well, not a great Keeper, and none of the Gryffindors had any morale. And then, at the start of the game, Hagrid came, and asked us to come to the forest. After assuring Hagrid (who had never talked to Sarah before) that Sarah was in fact a friend, Hermione opted to stay behind to watch the game, while Sarah and I set out after Hagrid, who led us deep into the forest. After awhile, we could hear a deep rumbling, and as we stepped further through nettles and undergrowth, we could suddenly see a massive mound of moving earth. "Hagrid?" Sarah asked quietly, taking a step back suddenly, reaching for her wand. "Is that a-a _giant?"_ I put two and two together then. Hagrid had been off trying to make peace with the giants. He was half-giant…

"Well, yes," Hagrid said, wringing his hands together as Sarah took another step back, drawing her wand. "But I had ter bring him, see, I had ter!"

"Why?" I asked in a horrified fascination, peering through the gloom that wasn't lit by our wands, trying to see the giant better. It wasn't as big as I had expected, but it was still a good fifteen feet tall or more.

"See- he's my brother!" Hagrid said, then amended, "Well, half-brother, but Grawp here's my mam's other child."

"Wow," Sarah said softly, studying Grawp, his giant head, covered in bracken colored hair, his one giant ear visible and his huge feet stacked ontop of one another. She looked torn between stepping closer and running away.

"Well, I want yeh to try and teach him English. I reckon I'll be gettin' the sack any day now, and, well, I need someone ter take care of im' after I'm gone." Hagrid elaborated, watching Grawp with moist eyes. He took out his giant handkerchief and mopped off his face when tears started to leak into his beard. Sarah and I exchanged looks. Teaching a giant English? That was pretty much impossible.

"I want yeh to just talk ter him a bit is all. I'll wake him up and introduce yeh-" He reached for a long bow off a tree and started to walk towards Grawp.

"Wait, what?" Sarah asked sharply, taking another step back.

"Hagrid, really, don't-" The rest of my words were lost as a huge roar echoed through the trees when Hagrid poked Grawp hard in the back.

"Oh, _Merlin,"_ Sarah very nearly whimpered as Grawp got up with surprising speed and peered down at us. Up close he was even more terrifying. He had huge yellowing teeth the size of tombstones, very large but dull eyes, and a very long nose. His hair was the color of mud, and was surprisingly curly. As he peered down at us, his breath- warm and smelling like Blast Ended Skewerts, blew strongly by us.

"This is Harry, Grawp! Harry Potter! And his friend Sarah! They're gonna try ter teach you English! Hey, Grawp, no-!" Hagrid tried to reprimand Grawp, as his hand suddenly shot forward to grab me. Sarah shoved me out of the way of his fingers, but Grawp just grabbed her instead, lifting her into the air. "Bad, Grawp! You don't grab!" Hagrid yelled, poking his knee, which Grawp ignored, peering into Sarah's face, who automatically leaned away. The smell must have been awful.

"Grawp, please set me down." Sarah tried to say it calmly, but I could hear hysteria under her words. She shifted in his grip, as if to pull something free, but ultimately didn't succeed. Hagrid poked at Grawp again, who swung at him with his other hand, annoyed, sending Hagrid flat on his back.

"Should I Stun him?" I called, drawing my wand, unsure. "Should you Stun him?" From that far away in the gloom, it was hard to even see Sarah.

"You can't Stun a giant, and he's got my arms, so I don't think so," Sarah said quickly, sounding like she was trying very hard not to panic. "Now-Grawp, please set me down. Grawp, _set me down. NOW._" She said firmly, as if scolding a child. Grawp hesitated, but then reached back out and plopped her down in a heap next to me from about five feet up, looking abashed.

"You alright?" I asked, helping her to her feet.

"Yeah," she said, giving me a shaky smile, dusting herself off with trembling hands, taking several steps back from Grawp. All the color had drained from her face.

"Well, Grawpy, you met em', and your friends now, alright? Yer friends!" Hagrid called to him, but he was already curling back up to go to sleep, evidently bored already. "Well, sorry about that, he's real grabby…but now you've met him!" Hagrid beamed…

"You're joking." Hermione and Ron said together the next day, looking thunderstruck. Sarah and I had just broke the news to them. Both of them stared at us, gaping, until Hermione snapped out of it.

"A giant. In the forest. Against his will." Hermione spoke jerkily, hysterical, and I was suddenly glad that she didn't go.

"Hagrid has lost his mind," Ron said in a slight awe, looking out the window at Hagrid's cabin.

"Yes," Hermione chimed back in, sounding irritable. "Oh, and it's almost four thirty, Sarah, you better go." She added, looking up at the clock. Sarah scowled, but stood up, unwrapping the handkerchief from her hand and shoving it into her bag.

"I'll see you later, don't forget, O.W.L.S. soon, so study…" she pressed, before leaving.

"She's right you know," Hermione said after a second, still looking shocked about Grawp. "We really should start studying." I made some noise of assent, even though studying was the last thing on my mind right now. I watched Sarah leave with a frown. We all knew that Umbridge was trying to get information out of Sarah- but so far she'd been pretty strong. I hadn't doubted her in a while, especially not after calling Fudge a prick to his face. But it was less doubt and more worry that bogged me down now. Umbridge was a sick, sick woman- and she thought that Sarah was weak enough to tell her something. I had a feeling she'd use whatever force was necessary to get what she wanted.

Sarah POV

Tonight I had to bite my lip several times to keep from making any reactionary noise. The back of my hand bled freely the entire time but I didn't stop or slow down. I had seen the way Umbridge looked at me every night. She was almost afraid of me, as if she thought I was a zombie or something. She hadn't questioned me yet like she promised she would, but that also left me feeling uneasy. "Miss Wimkil," Umbridge called, and when I got up to cross over to her, I suddenly felt woozy. After a second, I caught my balance on a chair and walked up to her desk. By then I had noticed the time, it was only seven-thirty. My detention wasn't supposed to end until eight…"Miss Wimkil, I've been confiscating your letters." She said rather flatly, and I felt myself breathe in sharply. I hadn't been getting mail from my parents, something I had actually enjoyed, but I thought it was because they had disowned me for being such a terrible child. But what had Umbridge learned about me? What did she know about my life now that she could use against me? Feeling violated and downright pissed, I went to snap at her when my vision suddenly started to darken and I felt sick.

Something was horribly wrong.


	18. Chapter 18

18

Sarah POV

"That's unfortunate," I said quietly, feeling a headache start to build. Everything seemed very…slow. For a wild moment, I thought Umbridge had cast some sort of spell on me. Her wand _was_ out, right in her hand. Was this her kind of an interrogation technique? Making me feel sick? If so- it was kind of working- I felt like throwing up.

"Are you a pureblood, Miss Wimkil?" Umbridge asked in honeyed tones, then looked at me sternly when I didn't answer. I felt my eyelids flutter for a second, sending anxiety shooting through me. What was _wrong_ with me?

"I-I'm not feeling well, ma'am," I finally admitted faintly, feeling the blood drain from my face and my body get cold. For once, Umbridge actually looked a shred concerned. She looked down at my hand, curled up against my chest and her eyes widened slightly. When I looked down, I saw that my front was stained with blood from my hand, which hadn't stopped bleeding yet. The sight of it made me feel even worse. Umbridge got up and rang a little bell, eyeing me with now with almost annoyance. Seconds later, Malfoy appeared in the doorway. I knew that she had her little squad patrolling the corridors, but this was ridiculous.

"You called, Headmistress?" He asked, then his eyes widened too when he noticed me.

"Yes, please take Miss Wimkil to the Hospital Wing. Miss Wimkil, we are quite finished. You needn't come back. I daresay you have exams to study for." She said coldly, tucking her wand back up her sleeve. "Go on," she said, and Malfoy came over, his nose wrinkling in distaste, even though he still looked very confused as to what was happening. It probably looked very gruesome- an indifferent and cold Umbridge, a bleeding student in front of her. I saw Malfoy looking almost eager, and my anger spiked.

"No thank you," I tried to say it frostily, but it just came out faintly again. I went to step around him but the whole room spun. I caught myself on a desk with my free hand and a gasp. I closed my eyes and tried to take deep breaths, but my head was pounding. For a second, I thought I was going to pass out.

"Do as I say." Umbridge sounded bored. "And call Filch while you are out. This blood needs to be cleaned up before morning classes."

"Yes, ma'am," I heard Malfoy say, then an arm hooked with mine and lead me out of her office.

"_Merlin,_ stop-" I planted my feet, feeling my stomach heave. I _hated_ blood. It always made me sicker. Call me a sympathy-spewer, but it was true.

"I'm taking you to the Hospital Wing, Wimkil." Malfoy's voice was rigid. He obviously hated what he had to do, but had to do it. I took a breath and opened my eyes. Malfoy was scowling past my left shoulder, and there was a bit of my blood on the side of his white shirt. Then I turned on the spot, broke his grip, and threw up into a decorative urn, feeling myself trembling for the first time. I was shaking from head to foot, and I felt like it was below freezing in here.

"_Evanesco," _I whispered, cleaning up my mess, but then slid down the wall and let my head fall back, trying to stop the walls from spinning. My headache only got stronger when I could hear my pulse in my head.

"What did she _do_ to you?" Malfoy sounded revolted, and I laughed weakly but bitterly, suddenly finding strength in his obvious discomfort. With a big heave-ho, I got back up, stumbled, caught myself on the wall, and shot Malfoy a hard look as he twitched, as if to catch me but then thought better of it. Filthy prick. Would it have been too much for him to help someone who was obviously sick? With a hiss of pain, I wrapped my hand up in my bloody shirt. I knew that left part of my stomach exposed, but I honestly couldn't care.

"It's none of your business anyway. Now leave me alone and go wash your shirt, you probably can't stand having my 'filthy' blood on it anyway." I meant to snap, but it came out quiet. Malfoy scowled.

"Look, I have to take you to the bloody Hospital Wing. Orders are orders." We glared at each other for a minute. I didn't believe him, not for an instant. The rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team was probably waiting around the corner, ready to unleash a full retribution. My presence alone apparently sickened Malfoy- his nose was still wrinkled.

"Fine." I whispered, suddenly too tired to care. Pushing myself off the wall to get started, I walked back over to Malfoy, making myself hold my head high, even though I was still trembling and freezing cold. With a haughty sniff, Malfoy hooked his arm back through mine. "Such a gentleman," I said through gritted teeth, mocking him. He looked very dearly like he wanted to hex me, but nonetheless helped me lurch through the corridors and stairs to the Hospital Wing. He pushed the doors open and then pushed me in the general direction of a bed, stalking down to Madam Pompfrey's office. "Git," I mumbled under my breath when he was gone, sinking down onto the edge of the bed. Moments later, Madam Pompfrey bustled down the ward and Malfoy slipped into a shadow.

"Blimey, you poor dear, let me see," she fussed, unwrapping my hand and ranted, 'That _horrid_ woman, you're so pale, what in Merlin's name,' etc. "Hold still now…_Episkey!"_ She casted the spell, eyes narrowing in concentration. I gasped sharply and a bit hoarsely as pain shot through my hand, making my eyes squeeze shut. When I opened them, the cuts had sealed, at least. My skin was still dark red and irritated, deeply scarred. "Here, dear." Madam Pompfrey said, and I opened my eyes and accepted with my left hand a small Blood-Replenishing Potion. "_Tergeo."_ Madam Pompfrey said, and the dried blood on my hand vanished. _"Ferula."_ She added, and bandages spun neatly around my hand. "No writing, try not to cast too many spells, basically don't overwork your hand, and it'll heal over again. Unfortunately, the scars will be permanent." She said, sounding like she was speaking through clenched teeth. Her dislike for Umbridge was obvious. "Off to bed now, go on. Go get warm, your skin's like ice." She said after several deep breaths to calm herself.

I thanked her softly and stood up; trying unsuccessfully to pull my sleeve down over my hand so that when I got back to the Common Room no one would see it. Frowning, I pulled my robe sleeve over it and started to walk away, but stopped up short at the doors when I realized that Malfoy was still there. My hand twitched towards my wand- I wanted to hex him into an amoeba- a pile of unrecognizable mush. But, he _did _help me, even though I had thrown up and was covered in gore, which was more than I had expected from him.

"Thank you." I said flatly, before pushing the door open with my left hand, opting out of cursing him- for now. While walking away, I realized that it was past eight thirty, and that any hopes of letting this blow over were long gone. I hurried to Gryffindor Tower and chugged the Blood-Replenishing Potion before slipping inside. I crossed my robes over my front, trying to hide the blood stain, then crossed my arms, trying to hide the bandage. It was awkward, and I looked like a very grumpy first-year, but it would work. I hoped.

"How was it?" Hermione asked, as I came over and sat down carefully, trying to keep my robes perfectly still over me.

"That woman is foul." I grumbled, letting myself sink into the chair. Hermione's question had reminded me that Umbridge was stealing my mail. When I huffed, my arms fell open a bit, and of course, Ron _had_ to see just the littlest bit of white next to my robes.

"What's that?" Ron asked, noticing the sliver of white among the black. I mentally cursed him for being so observant tonight.

"Nothing." I tried to say nonchalantly, but Harry was already leaning forward to seize my wrist. I tried to yank down my sleeve, but Harry was faster. After a quick scuffle, he forced back my sleeve.

"What the-" He let go when my arm moving made my robes fall open, showing the blood stain. "What the hell happened to you?" He asked quietly, but it was full of anger.

"I was writing lines for Umbridge and my hand wouldn't stop bleeding, I must've nicked a vein or something. She told me to go to the Hospital Wing and that it was my last detention. End of story." I tried to sound convincing, but Hermione shook her head, looking furious.

"That's a _lot_ of blood, Sarah, how'd you make it there on your own? I know you hate blood." She asked angrily, and I hesitated, scowling.

"Spill," Ron said, leaning forward, making our conversation a bit more private.

"She called for one of her Inquisitorial Squad on patrol to take me." I very nearly snarled, remembering how Malfoy had sniffed disdainfully at the task, the little toerag. I should have jinxed him anyway.

"Who was it?" Harry asked immediately.

"Malfoy," I snapped, pulling my arm inside my robes to hide my hand. His face darkened. "He didn't do anything. I made fun of him, sure, but he didn't jinx me or anything. It was just very uncomfortable."

"That's it," Ron said, sounding incensed. "Next year, if she's still here, I'm not coming back."

"_Ron!"_ Hermione chastised. "I hate Umbridge just as much as you do, but-"

"No 'buts', Hermione," Harry said, his hands turning to fists. "This is crossing the line. She's purposely harming students!"

"Guys," I interrupted. "You need to stop worrying about this _right now._" I emphasized as Ron went to speak. "You can later if you want, but right now, we have exams coming. You can't let her interfere with your studies. That's exactly what she wants, I swear. I'll be fine, honestly."

"I might just have a problem with that," Ron snarled, sweeping his parchment into his bag.

"_Don't._ Really. My detentions are done anyways. We can hex some Slytherins tomorrow to make up for it. It's really their fault anyway." I said lightly, trying to lighten my own fears and Harry and Ron's anger.

"_Sarah!"_ Hermione chastised me this time, but she was trying not to smile.

"Come on, go to bed," I urged, standing up and stretching, then making shooing motions at Harry as his stony face kept tracking my hand through the air. "_Go._ We can get back at her, don't you worry." I said darkly, vowing in my head to retrieve my mail. I wouldhave to get her back now, for sure. It was one thing to put me in detention, but another thing to break the law repeatedly.

"Night." Ron said thickly, obviously still pissed. "Come on, mate," he said, helping Harry up.

"Let's call it a night too," I told Hermione, who sighed, but stood up and followed me up to the dormitory.

"Are you sure you're ok?" She asked me as soon as we were in private. I hesitated, unsure if I wanted to dump more bad news on her head before exams, but realized that I couldn't lie convincingly to her anyway.

"You know how I haven't been getting mail?" I asked, and she nodded, moving to her four poster to change into her pajamas. "Umbridge has been stealing it." I said, wincing internally as Hermione dropped something, then stuck her face out from behind a curtain, looking appalled.

"No," She breathed, and I nodded grimly. "That's outrageous!" She gasped, removing her head from my sight, slipping on her pajama top then coming back out- halfway dressed for bed.

"I know- but there really isn't anything I can do. I don't want anyone to get in trouble for me, and I don't want any more detentions. I'll just have to wait it out." I said, desperately trying to convince myself at the same time. My parents were probably incensed by now. Knowing Umbridge, she was keeping them from visiting me at school, and without contact, they were probably ready to kill me.


	19. Chapter 19

19

Sarah POV

The next day, I threw myself into exam preparations, memorizing, studying and practicing spells until my head was aching from all the information. Hermione and I worked ourselves into hysteria almost everyday. I never got my mail back from Umbridge, but it was actually a relief not hearing from my parents, especially when I was stressed with exams. They sent annoying, pressuring letters every year during exams which made me even bitchier then a usual student. I knew that Umbridge probably had a mountain of them this year, O.W.L. year. Teachers only reviewed with students, which cut out the homework load, but kept me thinking about O.W.L.S. constantly. The only good I saw coming was the Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.. It would be fun to see the look on Umbridge's face when all of the D.A. members passed the exam with flying colors.

The night before exams, no one talked much. I charmed my notes to float in front of me as I leaned against a wall, rubbing the back of my hand, trying to study. My hand itched like crazy, but Madam Pompfrey insisted that I leave the bandages on, making it impossible to scratch. Ron lay under a coffee table, his notes stuck to the underside, mouthing words silently, Hermione was frantically reading a book, and Harry was in a window seat, frowning as he scanned Potions notes. The Common Room was silent, only seventh and fifth years were there, studying mercilessly. All the other grades knew better than to come in until much later. With a sigh, I twirled my wand, bringing up a new subject of notes to study, trying to ignore my itchy hand…

**OoOoOoO**

The day of exams, everyone was twitching and nervous. Everyone avoided Hermione and I, knowing better than to bother us. The first exam was Charms, something I had never been able to feel great about. I knew all the incantations, but sometimes I couldn't make them work, especially when I was anxious. Nervous, I sped through the exam, and then went back and checked it several times. The written wasn't so bad, but I trembled for the entire practical I was so nervous. The only thing I forgot how to do was to make an eggcup do cartwheels, which made me feel terrible. My perfectionist parents had rubbed off on me, and missing only one thing irritated me.

Our next exam was Transfiguration, my favorite subject. The exam, both written and practical was actually fun. The next day was Herbology, which was boring, but I felt good about it. Then, on Thursday, were the Defense Against the Dark Arts exams. Everyone who was in the D.A. left the written with satisfied smiles, sharing glances and grinning. But everyone cooled down as we went to the practical, where Umbridge was waiting. My examination was conducted by Madam Marchbanks, who, ironically enough now that I thought about it, was my teacher at the Dueling Classes I took. "How are you, my dear?" She very nearly shouted, being half deaf but still as competent as any other witch.

"Fine, thank you." I said clearly, and she nodded, smiling, but noticed my hand.

"What happened to you, dear? Not brawling in public are you?" She shouted, and then laughed. I saw Umbridge look over out of the corner of my eye. I considered telling the truth for a second, but decided against it. There was nothing Professor Marchbanks could do anyway.

"No, ma'am. It was an accident during my Herbology exam." I lied on the spot, but Professor Marchbanks nodded wisely.

"Right! Now, let's start the exam, shall we?" She sent me to work on all defensive spells, jinxes, counter-jinxes and hexes, lounging in her chair, watching me almost lazily. I couldn't keep a smile from my face, especially because I could see Umbridge in the corner watching Harry too, her face getting steadily stonier. "Oh!" said Professor Marchbanks, and I turned. Harry's Patronus was cantering down the hall, and his examinator was clapping enthusiastically. "Eh, for a little bonus, cast a Patronus, Sarah, go on." Marchbanks said, going back to grinning. I looked around for inspiration, and saw Malfoy's blond head and I imagined hexing him to mush.

"_Expecto Patronum!"_ I said clearly, grinning, and my songbird burst from my wand, whistling merrily, flying in quick, spinning circles around me.

"Very good, my dear, excellent!" Marchbanks almost bellowed. "So, I hear you are going to be back this summer! I look forward to it, I tell you!"

"Thanks, Professor," I said, trying not to laugh at her shouting or Umbridge's face. Marchbanks shooed me out, and I met up with Ron at the Marble Staircase, still trying not to laugh.

But my good mood didn't last long. I had Arithmancy the next day with Hermione, and we both left the exam with such foul tempers we yelled at each other over an answer to a question. The exam had been ridiculously difficult, and it left my eyes burning along with my hand. We had a break for the weekend, and then had the Care of Magical Creatures and Potions exams. Both went pretty well, but I was exhausted by the time I got to the Divination exam, and ended up telling Trelawney that I was going to die yesterday and that I had been happy about it. And then of course, during the night portion, mapping the stars, Umbridge tried to sack Hagrid, resulting in Professor McGonagall ending up in the Hospital Wing because of Umbridge's cowardice. It left me seething, in a bad mood; too distracted to study for my last exam. It was History of Magic anyway, the class _no one_ liked, not even Hermione and I. Nevertheless, I ended up studying late anyway, too determined to get good grades now to fail an exam out of anger.

I was writing furiously during the exam, actually feeling good about the answers I was putting down when someone shouted, making me jump and drag my quill across the page, making a huge black line down the side. Everyone turned as Harry fell out of his desk, still yelling, grabbing his scar as he hit the ground. Fear zinged through my chest and I almost stood up as kids shouted in surprise, sending the hall into an uproar. My gaze found Hermione's, and it looked as if we were both thinking the same thing. _What was going on? _ "Come on, now," Professor Tofty helped Harry up, who was trembling with wild, wide eyes. "It's just stress! Stress from examinations! Return to your papers, children!" He called, and started to lead Harry out, who suddenly tried to turn, his eyes flicking around the hall until he found me. Before he could say anything, Tofty turned him back around and steered him out.

"You heard, go back to the exam." Said Professor Binns, glaring down from the top of the hall. My mind blank with shock, I turned back to the essay, but made eye contact with Ron and Hermione before Tofty came back. None of us knew what the hell had happened, but it couldn't be good. With shaking hands, I finished the exam and then sat nervously, and it felt like my insides were quaking. As soon as the exam was finished, Ron seized Hermione and I and we darted out of the hall, but Harry wasn't there.

"Merlin, where'd he go?" Ron muttered, his freckles standing out in his paleness. He spun on the spot, being the tallest of us, looking for Harry.

"Maybe to the Common Room?" Hermione suggested worriedly, and pulled us towards the Marble Staircase. Halfway up, Harry appeared at the top and ran down to us. "Harry! What happened? Are you alright? Are you ill?" she asked immediately, sounding frightened, even to me.

"Come with me," Harry said quickly. "Come on, I've got to tell you something," He pulled us along, looking impatiently into classrooms until he found one that was empty. Then he dived in, pulling us in then slamming the door shut. "Voldemort's got Sirius." He said, sounding strained, pressed against the door.


	20. Chapter 20

20

Sarah POV 

"_What?"_ Hermione gasped.

"I just saw it, when I fell asleep in the exam." Harry said, sounding strained. I had never seen him look so awful. There were shadows under his eyes and his whole frame was tense.

"How?" Ron asked quietly.

"I don't know how, but I know exactly where. It's in the Department of Mysteries, what ever the weapon is, it's there, and Voldemort, he-he's making Sirius get it. He says he'll kill him in-in the end…" Harry trailed off, looking paler then ever and sat heavily on a desk. "So, how are we going to get there?" He asked after a second. His voice wasn't shaking anymore, but his hands still were. I tried to think logically, but I was too shocked to think right. Sirius…with Voldemort…in the Ministry- where the 'weapon' was supposed to be…

"G-Get there?" Ron asked.

"Get to the Department of Mysteries so that we can save Sirius!" Harry very nearly bellowed.

"Keep your voice down," I said quietly. My insides were still quaking, and the last thing we needed was someone finding us, especially if that someone was Umbridge or the Inquisitorial Squad.

"Harry, it's five in the afternoon, the Ministry must be full of workers! How could Voldemort get in there undetected?" Hermione asked, looking stricken.

"I don't know, he must have used and Invisibility Cloak or something!" Harry shouted, running a hand through his hair.

"Harry, Voldemort knows you! He might have planted that dream so that you go there! What if Sirius isn't in any real danger at all?" Hermione asked nervously, and Harry bellowed incoherently in anger. Before he shook Hermione, the door opened, and Luna and Ginny stepped in. Ginny looked unsure, while Luna could have walked in on accident.

"Is everything alright? We heard shouting." Ginny said.

"Never you mind." Harry said roughly, and Ginny raised her eyebrows.

"Harry, before you insist on going, why don't we check to see that he's still at Grimmauld Place?" I asked quietly. He rounded on me, his face white and furious before Hermione interrupted.

"Yes, Harry, we have to check, just to see if Sirius hasn't left Headquarters yet. We can't let Voldemort trick you!"

"It's not a trick, don't you get it!" Harry shouted. "He's being tortured NOW! And how do we check, how-"

"Umbridge's fireplace. We'll Floo the Order and check if he's there. Please Harry," Hermione said, her eyes shining, clearly upset by his behavior.

"And Luna and Ginny can help us," I said in a stronger, firmer voice, trying to gather my wits about me. "Ron and Hermione can head off Umbridge, Luna and Ginny can be lookouts, and I'll go with you. Then, if he's not there, we can use her Floo to get to the Ministry with the Order." I said patiently. Harry frowned.

"Yeah, we'll do it." Ginny said, obviously confused but trying to stay with the conversation, while Luna just nodded dreamily. I shot her a grateful look. Harry was almost crazy he was so upset- and if we gave him a plan, maybe we'd keep him out of trouble for awhile.

"Then let's do it." Harry said finally. "I'll need the cloak and the map, come on," he seized my sleeve and pulled me out of the classroom. He silently pulled me to Gryffindor Tower in such an angry, worried state that I almost considered stopping him to calm him down, but I knew it would only make him worse. I followed him up to the boy's dormitory and he threw things out of his trunk and all over the floor until he uncovered the cloak. Then he grabbed my arm again, barreling along, past Dean and Seamus who were saying something about a party and back into the corridor and to Umbridge's office. As soon as Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Luna saw us, they scattered. Ginny and Luna started some sort of story about Garroting Gas as Hermione and Ron went in a totally different direction.

"Come here," I said quietly, pulling Harry behind a statue until the hallway cleared. We waited silently, and once the hall was almost clear, Harry threw the cloak over us and strode purposefully to Umbridge's office, unlocking the door with a peculiar looking knife. Seconds later, we were in. Harry immediately went to the fireplace. My insides quaking faster in an adrenaline rush, I stood in front of the door, wand out, listening. As Harry put his head in the fire, the minutes ticked by, making me twirl my wand anxiously in my fingers. What if Harry was right and Voldemort was in the Department of Mysteries? What if I had been wrong this whole time- and the Ministry had created a weapon? Even worse, what if Voldemort got it, and what if he really did have Sirius? My insides gave a lurch when I heard footsteps and a scuffle in the hallway. I backed up and crouched beside Umbridge's desk. Harry was still out of sight, and I'd hex anyone who came in…

The door opened and Malfoy stepped in, wand out, looking for someone. I stood up fast and said, almost lazily, _"Expelliarmus!"_ His wand flew over to me and I caught it, setting it on Umbridge's desk. Malfoy froze, both hands in the air. I took three steps towards him, raising my wand, trying to think of which hex to use. This was definitely long overdue.

"Please don't hex me," He almost whimpered, and it took me a second to realize what he'd said. "I helped you," he reminded me, watching my wand nervously. I raised my wand to his eye level, but he had made a point, irritating me. "Yeah, don't, please?" He begged pathetically, seeing me stalling.

"Sorry. _Letifico Maximum!"_ I said, making up my mind. Draco flinched, then looked at me in confusion, realizing I had used a Cheering Charm, not a hex. Seconds later, he burst into giggles, falling into a desk, grinning, tears already streaming from his eyes. I turned then, making to go around the desk to get Harry, when I noticed something reflected in one of Umbridge's ugly plates. I narrowed my eyes, trying to see exactly what it was. The image suddenly became clear- it was Umbridge herself, raising her wand. I turned and cast a Shield Charm silently, and just in time, deflecting a spell she sent at me. We glared at each other a second before the door burst open again, and members of the Inquisitorial Squad started dragging in Neville, Ron, Hermione, Luna and Ginny. I took a step back, and stepped hard on the back of Harry's foot, as a warning, but he didn't even flinch.

"Ms. Wimkil, step away from Mr. Potter and give me your wand." Umbridge said through bared teeth. I stepped away from him, but raised my wand, shaking my head. My heart felt like it was going to burst through my chest. With a shriek of fury, Umbridge sent another spell at me, which I deflected, and before I knew it, I was sending one back, getting into dueling mode. Umbridge blocked it, looking at me in shock before glaring and initiating the duel. I stepped around her desk, blocking all of her spells, firing ones back. "Don't play with me, girl! _Stupefy!" _Umbridge shrieked, and when I didn't stop, suddenly started hexing at me faster. I ducked as one of her spells hit a desk top, shattering it. Umbridge moved forward, forcing me to move around, towards the door. Before she could aim at Harry I sent a curse at her desk, making it fall over with a flip, concealing Harry with a huge bang. Surprisingly, I wasn't afraid. Umbridge was either too angry to treat me like a real adult or she just really sucked at dueling, I didn't know which, but I was even going on the offensive now. I slashed three spells at her at once, passing Draco who was slumped over the desk, gasping for air but still giggling.

"_Expelliarmus!"_ I said almost triumphantly, and I blasted Umbridge's wand from her hand, raising my hand to catch it-

"_Sarah!"_ Hermione shrieked, then something slammed into the back of my head, making me choke and lights dance in front of my eyes. I instantly slumped over, my head ringing and the world going dark. Seconds later, Umbridge's wand clattered to the floor into silence. I lay there, numb, trying to focus on anything but the shooting pains in my head.

"Thank you, Flint." Umbridge said, sounding like she was trying to compose herself, and I heard her footsteps come over. _Get up!_ I willed myself, but I was struggling to breathe, my head was hot and extremely sensitive to sound now. I could feel something warm and wet sliding down my neck. "Get Potter." Umbridge snapped, and I heard her stop in front of me. Then her shoe nudged me. I wanted to sit up and hex her, but my mind was foggy, and I felt like I was slipping away, so I didn't react at all. Horrified, I listened as Flint pulled Harry out of the fire. "I want to know why you are in my office, Potter." Umbridge snarled, and I heard a scuffle by the fireplace.

"I was trying to get my Firebolt." Harry said coldly.

"Liar! You know that your Firebolt is in the Dungeons! Now, who were you trying to contact?" Umbridge hissed, stepping around me.

"It's none of your business who I talk to." I heard Harry snarl.

"Well then, you leave me no choice, Potter. Flint, go fetch Professor Snape." Umbridge ordered. Flint purposely kicked me as he walked over me, and I heard the door open and close. Silently willing my pounding, foggy brain to function, I forced myself to breathe slowly and shallowly, trying to think of a plan. I still had my wand, and I had the element of surprise if I was to attack…


	21. Chapter 21

21

Sarah POV

The only noise in the room was Malfoy giggling, unable to stop. Finally Flint and Snape came. I tried not to let any relief show when I heard Snape say that he didn't have anymore Veritasereum. That would keep all of Harry's secrets safe- I knew he'd never tell Umbridge anything under his own steam. Suddenly, Harry shouted something at Snape before he left, something about Padfoot (Sirius) and the place where it was hidden. And then I remembered that Snape was a member of the Order. But when I thought harder, that also meant that Harry hadn't found Sirius or any Order members…

I froze when Hermione said she'd tell the truth, considering getting up and hexing. I couldn't believe Hermione would turn on us; but when she said we were trying to contact Dumbledore, I realized that it was a trick. Hermione, Umbridge and Harry left to go see the 'weapon', giving me the perfect chance to act now that Umbridge was gone. "Would someone shut him up?" Flint snarled, breaking the silence as Malfoy kept giggling. "What curse was it?" He barked, presumably to Malfoy. Malfoy just gasped and giggled, barely able to breathe he was laughing so hard. Flint swore and I heard him start to pace. Making myself respond, I cracked open my eyes just a little, trying to see. The door was open, and standing around the walls were members of the Inquisitorial Squad and their captives, Ron, Luna, Ginny and Neville. Luckily, all of them were pushed against the wall, and the Inquisitors were in front of them, giving me clear shots. However, I couldn't see Flint anywhere. Throwing caution to the wind, I sat up as fast as I could and started Stunning. I got all of the Inquisitors and then something kicked me hard in the ribs, in the same spot as before, bowling me aside and sending my wand flying under Umbridge's flipped desk. I rolled over and saw Flint standing over me, raising his wand. I tensed as he went to cast his spell- then he was howling as what looked like guano with flapping wings spread out over his face; a Bat Boogey Hex. He bolted but ran into a desk, his hands flapping uselessly by his face. Ron ripped off his gag and dug his wand out of his Inquisitor's pocket before coming over and giving me a hand. I hissed and threw out an arm to support myself on Umbridge's desk, feeling my ribs sear with pain where Flint kicked me. That was twice in the same spot- and it hurt like hell. I rubbed blood off my neck and gingerly felt the gash on the back of my head from Flint. It wasn't too big, but it had bled like crazy.

"Nice one," Ron panted, digging out my wand and handing it to me. I took it and lifted my shirt with a wince. My whole side was slowly turning purple and black. "You ok?" He asked, and I dropped my shirt, standing up straight with a nod.

"Then let's go rescue Harry and Hermione." Ginny said, sounding very satisfied, watching Flint slide down a wall, still whimpering at his face.

"_Finite,"_ I said, after taking a deep breath, and Malfoy stopped laughing, but hung over his desk, still gasping for air. "Come on," I said, looking at him only with contempt. We ran out of Umbridge's office then, and through the school.

"Where do we go?" Neville panted as I went down the staircase, already putting together what Hermione had done.

"Grawp. The Forbidden Forest," I huffed, my ribs on fire. Ron got it, and ushered everyone after me. I full out sprinted down the grounds, towards Hagrid's Hut, trying to remember the way to Grawp. I paused for a second by his hut, and the others caught up.

"You know the way, right?" Ron asked, and I hesitated, then took the right path into the forest. We walked for awhile, then I threw up a hand, listening. Out of the gloom, I thought I heard Harry shout something angrily. I motioned everyone towards it. "Hiya, Harry." Ron smirked as we stepped up behind them and he whirled along with Hermione.

"How'd you get away?" Hermione gasped, raking an eye over all of us. I had a hand on my ribs, trying to breathe, Ron had a split lip, Neville's neck was still bright red, and Ginny's hair was wild. Luna, however, was still perfect, having done nothing at all.

"Sarah wasn't knocked out and then she Stunned most of em', but then Ginny did a _great_ Bat Boogey Hex, Flint had giant flapping things all over his face, it was awesome." Ron chuckled, handing Harry and Hermione their wands. It was then that I noticed, Harry and Hermione were covered in blood.

"What happened to you two?" I breathed, dropping my hand from my ribs.

"Grawp, some centaurs and Umbridge, there's no time to explain. We have to get to London." Harry said quickly, running a hand through his hair again, starting to pace.

"We'll fly," Luna said in such a matter of fact voice I nearly laughed.

"We don't all have brooms, and we don't have time to go back to the castle." Harry snapped.

"There are other ways of flying. Like, Thestrals, for instance." Luna said dreamily, looking past Harry, who whirled, then started petting something I couldn't see.

"Of course! But there are only two, and we'll need three-"

"Excuse me?" I asked at the same time as Ginny.

"Don't be stupid, you can't all go. This is going to be dangerous!" Harry insisted.

"I thought the D.A. was about doing something real." Neville spoke up. "We want to help." Harry threw a look at Ron and Hermione, then winced and touched his scar.

"Fine, pick one and get on," he said irritably. Luna gracefully climbed up and sat in midair, and Harry mounted one too, but the rest of us stood there, confused.

"Oh, you can't see them! Here," Luna slid down off her Thestral and pulled me over to something, then made a pocket with her hands. "Climb up," she insisted. I took a deep breath, and put my shoe in her hands. She tossed me up, and I felt myself fall against a horse. My hands were shaking again as I pulled myself on, grasping my wand tight, my hand still bandaged, but it was throbbing now, not itching. Luna helped everyone up, then Harry gave his Thestral directions. Seconds later, without warning, I was suddenly gaining altitude, holding tight to something I couldn't see, going much too fast. The ride seemed to take forever, and as the sky darkened, it got colder until I was fighting down shivers. I tried healing my ribs on the way, and it vanished some of the pain, but the bruise remained. Eventually, London came into view, and we touched down after a few more minutes. Trembling, I slid off my Thestral and weakly patted its shoulder, looking around. Harry was striding determinedly towards a phone booth, calling for us to follow him. I left my Thestral and somehow crammed in to the box with everyone else, and Neville dialed '62442'. Slowly, the phone booth descended, and a golden light hit our feet. As the box rose, I raised my wand, squinting into the light. But as we ground to a halt, we found that the Atrium was empty.

"Come on," Harry called, going towards a lift and opening the doors. Everyone got inside, and he pushed the button for floor nine. We rode up in silence, then Harry sprinted down the hallway and to a plain black door. "Through here." Was all he said, and we stepped inside a perfectly circular room, lined with doors. It was dark, minus candelabras on the walls that held blue candles that gave off an eerie blue light. When Ginny closed the door behind us, the room began to spin, so fast that I had to close my eyes. When it stopped, we had no idea where we came in or where to go. Harry chose a door and we went after him. I went last, wand raised and lit, listening intently. I was on a new adrenaline rush, and I felt like someone was waiting behind every corner, ready to hex us all. I had to admit that this place scared the crap out of me. With lots of dark corners, strange rooms and twisting passages, anyone could be waiting for us. The first room had nothing but a long hall, lots of doors, and a disgusting tank full of brains. Before we let that door close, going back to the circular room, I marked it with a bright red 'X' to keep us from trying doors again and again. The second room was low, with huge stone steps going downward to a huge stone dais in the center. On it was an old archway, with a thin veil slightly moving, even though there was no breeze. I felt goose-bumps rise on my arms at the sight of it. Instantly, I started to feel hopeless and depressed.

"I don't like this," I said, my voice sharp as Luna and Harry walked closer, mesmerized.

"There are voices," Luna said dreamily, and it was hard to tell if she was in a trance or if she was being her normal self.

"Come away, come _on_," Hermione said, her voice high and shrill, and pulled Harry away, who blinked several times once he wasn't looking at the arch. As we went back to the circular room, I marked the door, and then the next one that we couldn't even open. However, the next door we tried, Harry got excited about.

"This is it!" He almost shouted, walking briskly down the hall we were in. Twinkling lights seemed to be coming from nowhere at all, and shelves lined the walls, filled with curious artifacts. Now that we were away from the arch, I felt nervous again. Harry opened a door at the end of the hall, and we stepped inside the new room. It was dark, minus the blue lights from our wands and a huge dusty chandelier that made minimal golden light. "It's row ninety-seven, this way!" He called, dashing down, past rows and rows of shelving that held only dusty, spun-glass spheres. All of them were surprisingly dark, and tags hung off of each one with names printed on them in fading ink. When we reached ninety-seven, Harry was standing oddly still, looking at a spot on the floor. "He-He should be here." He said, his voice shockingly quiet compared to the shouting he had been doing for the past four hours. Instantly, hairs stood up on the back of my neck.

"Then we shouldn't be here." I said anxiously, looking over my shoulder, feeling my hand tremble again. I tightened my grip, afraid that the bandage would make my hand slip.

"Harry, have you seen this?" Ron said suddenly, walking over to one of the shelves, looking at one of the spheres. "Your name is on it…"


	22. Chapter 22

22

Sarah POV

"My name?" Harry asked, sounding disbelieving, but walked over, looking up at one of the spheres. On closer inspection, it _did_ have his name on the tag.

"Harry, I don't think you should touch it," Hermione said sharply as Harry stretched out a hand, staring hard at the little prophecy. I scanned the other shelves, looking to see if any of the other balls were addressed to us.

"None of us are here." Neville observed, doing the same thing I was.

"It's got my name on it," Harry said, sounding less confused and surer by the second. His fingertips hovered over the sphere.

"That doesn't mean you should take it." I insisted, feeling goose-bumps raise on my arms again as Harry took the prophecy in his hand. It began to glow slightly at his touch.

"Very good, Potter. Now turn around nice and slowly and give that to me," drawled a voice from right behind me. I spun, taking a step back and felt my eyes widen. Death Eaters were appearing from the gloom, hooded and masked. The one right in front of me had his palm up, waiting. I took another step back, morphing into the group as Harry stepped forward, the prophecy in his palm, clenching his wand in his fist.

"Where's Sirius?" Harry asked, his voice tight, and the Death Eaters laughed, making panic only rise faster in my chest while my insides plummeted. A quick count made it seem like we were very much outnumbered, not to mention way out of our league. Students didn't have a chance against Death Eaters. One of the women mocked Harry and Ron stirred.

"Not yet," Harry muttered, and the same woman screamed with crazy laughter, making my ears ring. My eyes flicked around, at the tall, never ending shelves, the Death Eaters surrounding us…suddenly, I felt one of Neville's trembling fingers poke me.

"Smash the shelves when Harry says," he breathed, and I tightened my grip on my wand, trying to focus, trying not to feel the anxiety, the fear, my sore ribs or burning hand…

"_NOW!"_ Harry shouted suddenly.

"_REDUCTO!"_ We all bellowed at once, and there was a flash of light, then a terrible _boom_ as the shelves trembled. I turned tail and ran, my long braid pounding into my back, following Ron, Luna and Ginny down a separate corridor, ducking as more prophecies rained down, blowing up a shelf in a Death Eaters face when he poked his head around one-

"In here!" Ron shouted, and a hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me backwards. I stumbled, but fell through a doorway, kicking it shut on the way down. I heard Ginny lock it as I scrambled to my feet. Ron, Ginny, Luna and I were in an unfamiliar hallway, separated from the others. "Come on," Ron muttered, and we ran down the hallway, taking random doors, going faster when we heard Death Eaters getting closer.

"There!" One screamed and pointed at us, appearing in a doorway. Wasting no time, I blasted open the nearest door, grabbed Ginny, and ran through it; but instantly regretted it. As soon as I stepped inside I was floating in inky blackness. Round orbs painted like the planets were floating by. A spell went past my ear and I kicked off a planet, trying to get away. It was as if someone had turned off gravity. Through the gloom I could only see the hair of my friends and nothing else. "Got one!" I heard a Death Eater shout, then bellow in pain when something exploded. Shrapnel of the object went whizzing past me. I pointed towards just in front of Luna and sent Stunners through there, and I heard at least one body drop. Floating over to her, I bumped into something black. A Death Eater turned, and I blocked a spell, then ducked as he sent two at me. One seared past my cheek, burning it.

"_Petrificus Totalus!"_ I gasped, and he fell over, bringing Ron into view. "Ron, here," I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him up.

"Hiiii…" He murmured dreamily, then giggled.

"Ron? _Ron!"_ I asked, giving him a little shake when I noticed blood trickling out of his mouth. Something bumped into me and I whirled, but it was only Luna, hands clasped with Ginny. "Something's wrong with Ron," I told them, my voice trembling. _What did they do to him?_

"Then let's get out of here," Luna said almost dreamily, and felt along the wall until she found the door. We stumbled out and I nearly fell over trying to support Ron, who was totally out of it. My fear increased as Luna spoke. "I think Ginny's ankle is broken, I blew up a planet in a Death Eaters face when he grabbed her foot and-" she gestured hopelessly to Ginny, who was standing on one foot, leaning against her.

"Ok," I said, trying not to panic. "Ok, let's find Harry, Neville and Hermione…come _on_," I heaved, getting Ron to walk when he was halfway draped over my back. I started when something touched my neck. I craned my head back and then caught something when it fell out of the hood of Ron's sweatshirt. Looking down, I saw it was one of the spheres. In my hand it didn't glow, and was cold to the touch.

"Guys!" Neville's voice made my head shoot up along with my wand. He, Hermione (who was limp?) and Harry had just dashed through a door, sealing it. Neville had blood running down his face, his nose swollen, and a limp Hermione over his shoulders. Harry was the only one unhurt, minus a long scratch down his face.

"What happened?" Harry asked fearfully, his eyes traveling from Ron, who was still giggling in my ear, to Ginny sinking to the floor, holding her foot and panting, to me to Luna.

"We think Ginny broke her ankle and Ron…we don't know." Luna said , bending over Ginny.

"And Sarab, what do you hab?" Neville asked from behind his broken nose, reminding me that I had a prophecy in my hand, which was oddly cold yet, and brittle.

"It fell out of Ron's sweatshirt," I said, an idea sparking in my brain. "Harry, listen, if we're going to get out of here, you'll want a decoy. Here." I held out to him, but he didn't move to take it.

"I can't carry both, they'll break." He said, white-faced, obviously as panicked as I was. "Here," he said suddenly, snatching my prophecy and pushing the real one into my hand. "You can duel the best, and they'll come for me, not you." I opened my mouth furiously to object when-

"There they are!" I heard Bellatrix Lestrange shriek. I hastily tucked the real prophecy out of sight, hauling Ron through the nearest door, nearly falling as Luna, Ginny, Neville and Harry stampeded in after me, sealing the door. "It doesn't matter, they're in there!" Bellatrix shrieked as someone pounded on the door. I looked around. We were back in the brain room, and doors were all over the walls-

"Seal them!" I cried, dashing around the room, and Harry and Luna followed suit. It was a race against time- could we seal all the doors before the Death Eaters made it in? Fear closing my throat, I leapt over desks, trying to get all the doors sealed- I was at the top of the room with Harry and Neville when I heard Luna shriek. Her door had burst open and sent her flying across the room. She slammed into a desk, flipped over it, and lay motionless. Death Eaters poured in from her door, wands raised.

"There!" A Death Eater shouted, pointing at Harry, seeing the wrong prophecy in his hand. We scattered, Neville and I went left, Harry went right, and we dashed back up the room, my lungs were aching- "_IMPEDIMENTA!" _The same voice bellowed, and a spell whizzed past me and hit Neville, who was blasted off his feet, slamming into a desk and crumpling.

"Neville-" I went to call out to him when a spell whizzed past my side, hitting a desk instead and sending it flying down the room. I hurriedly blocked the next spell that came, backing up until I was in front of Neville. The Death Eater who cursed Neville came closer, raising his wand-

"_Accio Brain!"_ I heard Ron shout, and my Death Eater turned, as did I. Ron had his arms outstretched, ready to catch a brain that was flying out of the tank-

"NO, RON!" Harry bellowed, but it was too late. Ron grabbed the brain, still gigging, then frowned as the brain started to wrap it's tentacles around him, suffocating him- My Death Eater shot a spell past me that hit Ginny instead, who fell over, unconscious. I ducked, then blocked two more spells from him as he took a few more steps closer, bearing down on me. Harry ran for it, going out the only open door. All the Death Eaters pelted after him, and I Stunned mine in the back, then a few more as they ran after him, leaving me alone. For a moment I just stood there, panting, too panicked to move. Then I snapped to and ran to Neville's side.

"_Neville!_ Can you hear me? Neville? _Ennervate!" _I tried, trembling, but Neville didn't stir. Breathing hard and fast, I sat back on my heels, trying to think of what to do, Ron was still thrashing, Neville, Ginny, Hermione and Luna were all unconscious, Harry was alone…and I had the real prophecy. I pulled it out of my pocket, thinking fast. I couldn't get all of my friends out, but I could still try to help Harry. _"Geminio!" _I tried doubling the prophecy, and I got another sphere, but it was cold, and didn't glow. I tucked the real one into Neville's pocket and took the plain sphere, scrambling to my feet and over to Ron. "_Reducto!"_ I tried, and the brain exploded all over Ron, but it stopped strangling him. I took a deep breath, tried to calm down, and followed the direction that Harry and the Death Eaters had gone…


	23. Chapter 23

23

Sarah POV

The room turned out to be the one with the creepy veil. As I stepped inside, the overwhelming feeling of despair crashed down on me again, and I had to take a second to compose myself. All the Death Eaters had Harry trapped on the dais, wands surrounding him. "Now, Potter…_give me the prophecy."_ Malfoy's father was bearing down on Harry on the dais, many stories below me. He outstretched his hand for the sphere kept tight in Harry's hand, almost behind his back. There really wouldn't be a good way to do this, it was now or never-

"He doesn't have it." I made myself say clearly, and they all spun, staring at me. I held the fake one high in my palm, but kept my wand directly in front of me. This was dangerous, so dangerous, and me going against them was the stupidest thing I'd ever done. I blocked a spell one sent at me automatically barely a second later. My adrenaline spiked as all of the Death Eaters raised their wands at me, leaving Harry in their midst, ignored, for the moment. I couldn't leave now if I wanted to.

"_Stop!"_ Lucius Malfoy bawled, then looked from Harry, to me. Harry's face was whiter, if possible, and I realized that he probably thought I was giving them the real one. I worked to keep my face smooth, even though I was trembling on the inside. "Don't play games with us, little girl." Malfoy spat.

"It's only a game if you make it one." I retorted, slipping down a bench, closer to the dais. "Who has the right one…me…or him?" I asked, stopping when a Death Eater went to move forward, but Malfoy's arm shot out and stopped him. His grey eyes were narrowed at me, which told me my plan was working. It was a confusing plot- would Harry keep it close to him, or give it to someone else? I didn't look like much, maybe that's why he gave it to me. Or, I could be bluffing _because_ I looked like nothing much, and was just distracting them. His eyes narrowed further and I raised my chin, looking him dead in the eye.

"We don't have time for this. Just kill her." Dolohov spat, and I rolled frantically behind a bench when a flash of green light from him nearly killed me. I stood up straight again despite my better judgment, trying to stay calm. I still held up the prophecy, even though my hands were trembling again. I was afraid that the sphere would slip, fall and smash. My eyes flicked to Harry for a second, and he looked beaten- as if he knew it was over. I only wished that I could tell him that it wasn't over, not in the slightest.

"Would you really risk cursing me and breaking this prophecy?" I mocked, then dived for cover again when Dolohov sent several curses up the stairs. Malfoy started shouting at him as I cautiously stood again. I lowered my arm to my side, keeping the prophecy clenched in my fist as if it was a softball. As a last resort, I'd try to get Harry a chance to run by throwing it- even though it probably wouldn't do much.

"We don't know if it's real or not! We can't!" He barked. Dolohov turned on him and I blasted Dolohov off his back with the strongest Stunner I could muster. He fell behind the dais into silence. All of the Death Eaters had whirled back around, wands pointed at me. The tension in the room went up another notch as we just sized each other up for a moment.

"Oooh, Potter's little friend knows how to play…" Bellatrix Lestrange looked me up and down, stepping off the dais to look up at me, an insane grin spreading over her face. The way she was looking at me made me shiver. There was something in her gaze that didn't feel right.

"_Reducto!"_ A voice bellowed, and the bench in front of me exploded. I ducked as I was almost blasted off my feet, covering my head, tucking the fake prophecy into my chest as a cloud of dust concealed me, bits of stone raining down. The bang echoed through the room eerily and I used my free hand to dab at the new cuts on my face and arms from the explosion.

"STOP IT!" Malfoy almost shrieked. The cloud of debris wasn't dissipating, so I thought hard while I had the cover, blinking blood out of my eyes. Harry and I were basically screwed. The Ministry still didn't know they'd been infiltrated. How could I call them here… "NOW LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE! SHE'S GONE AND SHE MIGHT HAVE THE PROPHECY!" Malfoy shouted as I didn't appear, but it gave me an idea. I _could _disappear, but it would be illegal…My mind flashed back to when I was being taught the theory of Apparition just last summer, and all the times before. It couldn't be that hard…focus your mind on where you want to go…turn on the spot…I gritted my teeth and tried it. I re-appeared behind a bench on the opposite side of the room, feeling slightly dizzy, falling on my hands and knees for a second. The 'pop' was masked by the Death Eaters shouting, climbing up the benches trying to find me, and my gasp of pain was too. It had worked, miraculously, but I had splinched myself doing it, and my hip was on fire where some skin hadn't made it, blood coloring my side. I gritted my teeth and stood up, raising the prophecy.

"I'm over here," I called in a hard voice, and the reaction would have been funny if this wasn't so serious. The Death Eaters spun, as did Harry, all of them shocked. I hoped that how I had broken the law had worked, that somewhere, someplace, a Ministry employee tracking teenager's Traces' had received word that a minor had Apparated from inside the Ministry to a new spot within the Ministry when the place was closed. If that wouldn't bring someone here, nothing would.

"Oooh, she really knows how to play…" Bellatrix laughed, aiming another spell at me. I panicked and Apparated again, this time to behind the dais. In my haste, I fell against the dais, right onto my Splinched hip, making me gasp. Fortunately, all of the Death Eaters were returning to the dais, and their sound masked mine again. Wincing, I touched the bloody spot with the tip of my finger and gritted my teeth. I had actually lost part of the skin, not just the top layer, and I was bleeding pretty heavily.

"She must have it, Potter, doesn't she? She's obviously smarter than you." I heard Malfoy say, and there were some laughs. "And she certainly won't leave without you..." I peeked up over the edge, moving until I was behind Harry and a few Death Eaters. They were closing in on him, raising their wands. If we were going to get out of this- I'd have to act- now.

"_Defodio!" _I shouted, pointing at the ground between the two Death Eaters behind Harry, gouging a huge crater between them, sending them flying off to the sides. During the confusion I got up onto the dais, grabbed Harry and tugged him backward, even though he fought me until we fell off the dais. He spun, obviously thinking I was a Death Eater, but quieted when he saw it was me. "It's fake," I whispered under the Death Eater's panicked shouting, holding up the fake prophecy so he could clearly see that it didn't glow. Then I was thrown sideways as a spell landed right at Harry's feet, bowling us over. I slowly got up, cradling the prophecy to my bleeding hip when a hand grabbed my long braid and jerked me up onto the dais, pulling harder when I cried out. Bellatrix Lestrange stood over me, wand raised. She opened her mouth to speak when a door burst open at the top of the room and the Order streamed in. Taking that chance, I rolled sideways behind the arch and scrambled to my feet. I was forced to block spells immediately from Bellatrix, who followed me, still thinking that I had the prophecy. Hopelessly unskilled against her, I focused on just blocking her spells as she advanced on me, spells whizzing by us and shouts filling the air.

Then I started dueling for my life as Bellatrix got lazy. I started to send spells at her, anything I could think of, Cheering Charms, all kinds of hexes, Transfiguration spells useless on a human, any spell that came to mind went at her. We spun around the dais, her spells cast in grand slashes and jabs while mine came in frantic flicks, trying to keep her at bay as my mind numbed over in terror. More than once I had to throw myself out of the way, even Apparating to keep her from killing me. "Get out of the way!" an Order member shouted behind me, and I ducked as they started casting over me. Seconds later, Bellatrix blasted them off their feet with a snarl. I looked up to see her raising her wand, and I ended up doing an awkward backwards somersault to evade one of her spells.

"Stand up and duel me," she hissed at me, and I had to, leaping back when she blew up the stone in front of my shoes. "Let's see just how well you can _play-_" she broke off and had to duck, covering her head when I blew up the wall behind her in anger. She was _playing_ with me, the sick, horrible, evil woman. Our duel raged on, and I had to Apparate again when she almost got me, her sick laughter ringing in my ears. At this point, my ribs were searing with pain, my left hip's blood had stained my jeans all the way down my leg, and my braid was coming out, making it harder and harder to see. I was almost deaf with the shouts and explosions from other duels, and I had to concentrate constantly, so _afraid_ that Bellatrix would get bored and just kill me. Order members tried to help, giving me a short rest once or twice, but Bellatrix would duel with them fiercely, just trying to get back to me, to _play._ "Give me the prophecy and I just might let you live!" She called, laughing as I rolled frantically to the side, then desperately blocked four spells from her in a quick succession, trying to get up. Panting too hard to reply, I just shook my head with a glare, and her face got ugly fast. "_IMPEDIMENTA!" _She shrieked, throwing her arm out for more power. The spell was so strong, it collapsed my shield charm easily and blasted me off my feet, across the dais and to the other side of the arch. I heard something crack in my ribs and uncomfortable heat spread from the spot when I hit the ground. I screamed in pain, stars bursting in front of my eyes. When they cleared, Bellatrix was striding over to me, wand raising-

Someone leapt over me and started hexing with Bellatrix like mad, and I realized that it was Sirius Black. It looked as if he hadn't ever been a captive of Voldemort and Harry had been tricked after all. I forced myself to sit up, keeping the fake prophecy close to me, trying to breathe. My side was burning with pain, making me pant instead of properly breathe. It felt like something was poking my insides sharply- I had definitely broken something. It was the same side that Flint had kicked, making things even worse. "Come on, is that the best you can do?" Sirius jeered Bellatrix. Seconds later, a Stunner hit him right in the chest. He started to fall backwards, towards the veil-

"_Rictumsempra!" _I gasped, half with pain, and the spell blasted Sirius behind the dais, keeping him from falling into the veil. Then I threw myself behind the veil when Bellatrix shrieked incoherently, firing spells at me, now _very_ angry. I went to dash around the other way, wheezing, but Bellatrix was there. She seized me around the neck, and slapped my wand from my fingers as our eyes locked, hidden behind the archway. Now that I wasn't dueling, I could hear the shouting, screaming and blasts from the other duels raging. I fought her for a minute, but it was pretty much useless.

"Ah," she smirked, and pulled the fake prophecy from my other hand, tucking it into her robes. She tightened her grip on my neck, making me gasp. She addressed me seriously, but the madness stayed in her eyes. "You're pure, I can tell by how you duel." She tightened her grip again when I went to kick her. "_Vestigium."_ She hissed, pointing her wand at the inside of my wrist, which was exposed as I pulled at her hand, trying to tear her grip away. I gasped sharply as pain flared there. For a second, the spot burned, and the world seemed to get slightly darker. "We'll meet again…now, I'm going to use you to lure Potter after me…straight to the Dark Lord. You caused Potter's death, and _I'll be back for you_." She hissed, starting to laugh madly, whipping us back around the dais and giving me a hard shove. She shot a flash of green light past me, then a Stunner hit me straight in the chest-

Lupin POV

I was urging Harry up the steps when a loud cackle from Bellatrix made us both turn. There was a flash of green light and then the student that had been dueling her crumpled before her, dead. Bellatrix shrieked with glee, holding a prophecy above her head, running up the stairs.

"She killed her," I heard Harry gasp, horrified. "SHE KILLED SARAH, I'LL KILL HER!" He ran across the level we were on and up, after Bellatrix, ignoring me shouting after him. Dumbledore Stunned the last Death Eater, glanced at the student's body, then started after Harry, his face like stone, white and furious. Shocked silence filled the room then, and I slowly started down the steps with numb legs. Moody was sitting next to Tonks on the floor, trying to seal a cut on her and Kingsley was helping Sirius to his feet, but all of them were silently looking at the body on the dais. With feet that felt like lead, I got up onto the dais, approaching the body. The girl looked the same age as Harry. Her glasses were slightly askew, her braid was coming apart, leaving strands around her face, and she was crumpled in a weird way, her eyes closed. There was dried blood on her neck, and fresher blood all the way down her left leg.

"She killed a student." Sirius said slowly, in disbelief, him and Kingsley coming over. "I don't believe it."

"She saved your life, you know." Kingsley said quietly, and Sirius shot him a look of disbelief. Kingsley explained as I slowly knelt, trying to fight the rage that I was suddenly feeling. Bellatrix killed a student, a child. An extraordinary child, one that had dueled with Bellatrix the whole time, just managing to keep her at bay. It was more than I could have ever believed a student would be capable of. Bellatrix had been untouchable, but the student had blocked all of her spells until the end.

"Her name was Sarah," Sirius said, his voice much quieter now that he knew the truth, sitting on the edge of the dais, his face lined with misery. I reached over and brushed stray hairs out of her face, tucking it back into her braid. My fingers just brushed her neck and I froze. Her skin was still warm, and after a moment, a pulse pushed against my fingertips…


	24. Chapter 24

24

Lupin POV

"She's not dead," I spit out, rolling her over, hardly daring to believe it. "Feel, feel there." I insisted, and Sirius shot me a look, pressing his fingers to her neck, and then jerked his hand away when he felt her pulse too. "_Ennervate!"_ I said triumphantly, and her chest rose and fell, her eyes fluttering open.

"Harry," she breathed instantly, sitting up, and then gasped in pain, falling back down, grabbing at her ribs. Panic flashed in her eyes.

"Sarah, hold still, it's alright," Sirius said soothingly, but we exchanged worried looks. What did she know about Harry?

"_Ferula."_ I said, and she hissed as bandages spun around her torso, keeping her ribs tight. I had seen her fall when Bellatrix blasted her across the dais, and judging by the way she hit the ground, I guessed she had at least cracked a rib, maybe broken two.

"No, it's n-not, she lured him a-away-" she tried to sit up again, and Sirius pushed her down gently once more.

"What do you mean?" He asked quickly, and we exchanged an even more worried look.

"It was a t-trick to g-get Harry to follow h-her. She n-never meant to k-kill me." She panted, a hand on her bandaged ribs. Sirius raised his eyebrows at me, obviously thinking she was delirious. Why would Bellatrix hesitate in killing an enemy?

"And she took the prophecy." I ended, but she shook her head weakly.

"That one w-was fake, N-Neville has it, I s-slipped it on him when he was down and d-duplicated the sphere. She d-doesn't h-have a prophecy at all." She was wheezing by the end, so I put a hand on hers to stop her.

"It'll be alright, just try to calm down. Sirius, you need to leave. The Ministry will be here sooner than later." I forced myself to sound calm and to think ahead. Sirius blinked, frowning, but Disapparated. In the time he took, Sarah pushed herself into a sitting position with a whispered swear word, wincing, her eyes smarting slightly from pain.

"Here," Kingsley said in his deep, reassuring voice, handing her wand to her. She accepted it, and I saw a tattoo starting on the inside of her wrist…I snatched her hand and pushed back her sleeve, feeling rage pass through me in a hot flash as I examined it.

"She's been marked." I said sharply, looking down at the tiny skull imprinted on the inside of her left wrist. No one had seen the mark in years, but Death Eaters used it before Voldemort first fell to mark those they wanted to recruit. _That's_ why Bellatrix didn't kill her…she had proven herself worthy…

"Marked? What does that m-mean? Bellatrix did it, what does it mean?" Sarah asked frantically as Moody thumped over, taking her hand from me, his eye whizzing over it.

"Can you remove it?" I asked him, but he shook his head slowly.

"Only Dumbledore would even have a chance at it, maybe another Death Eater, but certainly not me." He said, letting her hand go.

"_What does it mean?"_ She asked frantically, but my answer was to help her up.

"It doesn't matter right now, alright? Now come on, I'll take you back to Hogwarts, you need to see Madam Pompfrey." I insisted, but she resisted, looking quickly around the room.

"Where's Harry? W-where are the others?" She asked, her face still white.

"He'll be alright, Dumbledore went after him. The others are already at Hogwarts. Come on now, hold steady," I made sure she was steady on her feet before Apparating to the nearest Floo.

Harry POV

I charged after Bellatrix, fury filling me up, trying not to cry. Sarah had risked everything to befriend Hermione, Ron, and I. We hadn't trusted her at first, and now I burned with guilt and regret. She had been so brave- worked so hard- and Bellatrix had killed her, a _kid, _like it was nothing. I dashed out of the Department of Mysteries and threw myself into a lift, hammering the button marked _Atrium._ I knew Bellatrix would go there, to escape. When the lift slid open, I could see her skipping down the hall, laughing, prophecy still held high. I sent four Stunners at her, which she deflected easily from such a long distance. The spell she sent made me duck behind The Fountain of Magical Brethren, heart pounding as it shattered a statue's ear. _"Come out, come out, baby Potter!" _Bellatrix mocked, and blew the head off of the statue next to me. _"_I thought you were here to avenge your little friend!"

"I am!" I shouted back, feeling a new surge of anger at her words. My words echoed eerily around the Atrium, and Bellatrix started laughing.

"Awww, did you _love_ her?" Bellatrix called, and I snapped.

"_Crucio!" _I bellowed, throwing myself out from behind the fountain. Caught unawares, it blew Bellatrix off her feet, but she didn't scream or writhe, she only got back up again, no longer laughing. Her counter-spell made me run for cover again.

"Never used and Unforgivable Curse, have you, Potter?" She called, laughing madly. "It's easy enough; I did it to your little girlfriend! I'll show you how it's done!"

"I'll do that, thank you, Bellatrix." Said a high, cold voice from directly behind me, making my skin crawl. I whirled and Voldemort instantly disarmed me, his red eyes gleaming with pleasure. He walked lazily around to Bellatrix, who fell to her knees, holding the prophecy above her head. Voldemort took it, an evil grin lighting up his face, and then it died fast. He examined the prophecy and his eyes flashed in anger. "This is not a prophecy, Bellatrix. You have failed me."

"N-not a prophecy, my Lord? I assure you, it is-" She shrieked as Voldemort blasted her off her feet, closer to me where I stood frozen by the fountain, mind blank. Voldemort stalked back over, teeth bared.

"This is nothing but glass!" He bellowed, throwing it at her feet. It shattered; no ghostly beings appeared. Pride rose in me for what Sarah had done, even though it came at a terrible price.

"I'm sorry, My Lord! I was deceived!" Bellatrix sobbed at his feet, her back shaking. "But you should know, he is here, he is below-"

"Quiet, Bellatrix," Voldemort said dangerously, and she fell silent. He turned on me, raising his wand. "Too long you have thwarted me, Harry Potter. No longer. _Avada Kedavra!"_ He shouted in triumph. Before the spell hit me, a statue in the fountain sprang to life and in front of me, deflecting it. "What—Dumbledore!" Voldemort breathed, turning on the spot. Dumbledore had appeared at the top of the hall, his face like stone.

"It was foolish of you to come here tonight, Tom." Dumbledore said calmly, walking forward. The other statues of the fountain leapt to life as he did so. One went for Bellatrix, pinning her to the floor, while an elf started pushing me backwards, away from the fight. And then Dumbledore and Voldemort dueled, and I finally understood what Sarah had meant about dueling. I had seen flashes of her dueling with Bellatrix, seemingly fearless, but this was definitely more deadly.

And then my scar burst open with pain. I didn't know who I was, where I was- there was nothing but pain. It was more pain than I had ever felt in my life, it was all consuming- worse than death. But when I thought of death, I thought of Sarah, her sacrifice, and the memory of her crumpling under the flash of green light made my heart swell with emotion. It was then when the pain vanished, and I was back in the Atrium. Dumbledore was helping me up, looking concerned; the Atrium was destroyed from his duel with Voldemort, and Aurors were slowly filling in, looking around open mouthed. Voldemort and Bellatrix were gone. "Are you alright, Harry?" Dumbledore asked quietly, and I nodded jerkily, trembling. Dumbledore reached down and took the head of a goblin from the Fountain of Magical Brethren, and cast a spell on it, turning it into a Portkey. "Return to Hogwarts, Harry. I will see you soon." He said calmly, and offered the Portkey to me. I silently put my hand on it and was transported back to Hogwarts.

I arrived at Hogwarts in Dumbledore's Office. The placed looked the same as always, the tables full of whizzing tiny silver instruments, Fawkes' stand, and the bookshelves. It was as if nothing at all had changed. But something _had_ changed. I reached into my pocket and removed the other prophecy and put it on Dumbledore's desk, feeling my tear ducts prick as I tried not to cry. It had been Sarah's idea, using a fake prophecy- and I assumed that it had worked; Bellatrix had ended up with a fake after all. But it was that same idea that had killed her- and for nothing- just a terrible and stupid mistake on my part. Hermione was right- Voldemort had counted on me wanting to play _the hero_.Slowly, I sat in the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk, feeling my heart get heavier with shame and grief. How could I have been so _stupid?_ I was so struck with shame that I didn't stir when Dumbledore's Floo lit up and he stepped out of it, looking far too happy. Without a word to me, he placed the ugly Fawkes onto his stand before seating himself at his desk. "Harry, I have good news and bad news." He said so calmly that it instantly filled me with rage.

"Nothing could possibly be 'good' right now," I hissed, feeling my hands clench to fists, especially when he laughed softly.

"Your new friend this year, Sarah Wimkil, was not murdered by Bellatrix as we previously thought." He said, and my head shot up in disbelief as he continued. "It was a trick to lure you to the Atrium. She was merely Stunned, and is with the rest of your friends, unharmed, for the most part, down in the Hospital Wing."

"I don't believe it." I said quietly, feeling my spirits rise. That seemed too convenient to be real, yet Dumbledore wouldn't lie. "What's the bad news, sir?"

"Bellatrix marked Ms. Wimkil before faking her death. Apparently she was entertained by her dueling." Dumbledore's words hardened, but I only looked at him in confusion. Bellatrix didn't make Sarah a Death Eater, did she?

"Marked, sir?" I asked, nonplussed. Dumbledore sighed heavily, not in irritation, but in sadness. He suddenly looked his age, and tired on top of that. It seemed unreal that he had dueled with Voldemort tonight and was now discussing things lightly in his office.

"When Voldemort was first rising to power, his Death Eaters would mark skilled wizards, whether they wanted to join Voldemort, or not, with a kind of symbol. It would help them find those wizards, even if they went into hiding. These marks can cause great pain to the marked, especially when the Death Eater who marked them is near. The long term affects are even worse. They are marks of destruction." Dumbledore explained softly, rolling the other prophecy closer to him and slipping it into a drawer when I tried to think.

"Can't you remove it?" I asked hopefully, and Dumbledore shrugged slightly, standing, cuing me to do so as well.

"These kinds of marks were not meant to be removed, but to be added onto, to be made into Dark Marks. I will try, but I can make no guarantees. But for now, you need to visit the Hospital Wing yourself. Come, I will escort you." He said, and I followed him out the door, mind reeling…


	25. Chapter 25

25

Sarah POV

"There now," panted Professor Lupin slightly as I sank onto the edge of a bed in the Hospital Wing, ribs aching. The Apparition to a Floo was bad, but the Floo itself made me feel like I was having an asthma attack. Madam Pompfrey was casting some sort of spell over Ron. Luna, Ginny and Neville were all clustered together, but darted over as Professor Lupin went over to Madam Pompfrey. I tried to focus on my friends, but I couldn't help but notice how serious Lupin looked, and how he pointed to the inside of his wrist with an angry expression.

"Sarah, are you ok?" Neville said, his nose no longer broken.

"I think I broke some ribs," I softly, and Luna clucked her tongue sympathetically.

"You know, goblin saliva is great for bone health." She said seriously, as if the whole night in the Department of Mysteries hadn't happened. I laughed then gasped, wincing as my ribs creaked and poked into me harder. Madam Pompfrey ended her serious conversation with Professor Lupin and shooed my friends away, raising her wand. Several seconds and a gasp from me later, my ribs were healed, and she healed a burn mark on my face from a passing spell, along with a few other major cuts and scrapes. Then she slowly turned over my left wrist, took one look at the little mark there and hissed slightly, turning it back over and patting my hand nervously. Her reaction made my anxiety spike again- I still didn't know what this little mark was. So far, it had done nothing but be imprinted on my skin and cause strange reactions from everyone who saw it.

"What does it mean?" I asked her, but I directed it more towards Professor Lupin as Madam Pompfrey just walked away. He hesitated, as if trying to avoid answering. "_What is it?"_ I pressed, rolling back my sleeve to look at it, feeling my stomach suddenly plummet as I looked at the little black skull. I suddenly began to feel very ill and sore, as if I was recovering from the flu.

"I'll let Professor Dumbledore explain it to you. It's not really my place. Now that everyone is back, I need to return to the Order." He said, being purposefully vague as he got up, heading for a fireplace. Seconds later, he Flooed back out. My friends came back over, and that's when a fact clicked into my brain.

"Hermione? Harry? Ron? Are they all alright?" I asked, getting up, rolling my sleeve back down, trying to ignore how the mark was starting to burn now.

"Come and have a look. Ron and Hermione will be alright. But we haven't seen Harry at all. He must be with Dumbledore." Ginny said as we walked over to where Hermione and Ron lay side by side. Ron's torso was covered in bandages, as was his arms, but Hermione didn't look any different.

"What happened to her anyway?" I asked, trying to distract myself now from the very uncomfortable burning on the inside of my left wrist. Discreetly, I pressed it to the cold metal of Hermione's bed frame and nearly yelped as it only burned hotter.

"We aren't sure, but Madam Pompfrey said something about Dark Magic. But what happened to _you?_ Do you know what happened to Harry?" Ginny asked.

"Well, Neville's go the real prophecy in his left pocket." I started, and Neville pulled it out, his face getting comically shocked as he looked at it in his pudgy palm. "When that Death Eater hexed you I put in your pocket to keep it safe. Harry had run out with the fake prophecy, and all the Death Eaters followed him. I duplicated the real prophecy and ended up with just an empty glass sphere, but it was convincing enough. Then I went after Harry." I explained, and described my illegal Apparitions and the dueling. I was just getting to the part about saving Sirius from the veil when the doors to the Hospital Wing opened again. Harry and Dumbledore strode in, and they came directly over to us.

At first, Dumbledore hung back, only watching our little reunion and as Neville gave Harry the real prophecy. Then he cleared his throat, silencing us.

"Miss Wimkil, will you join me a moment?" He asked, and I noticed Harry look down towards my left wrist. I nodded and broke away from the group, joining Dumbledore farther up the ward. The mark burned less in his presence, and I felt somewhat safer. He stood with his back to my friends, keeping them out of view. "I understand that you have become entwined with Harry's life this year, and that you are familiar with the Order." He said lightly, his eyes twinkling slightly, and I nodded. "You also taught other D.A. members the theory of dueling, which you showed in an astonishingly high degree last night." He continued, and I bowed my head slightly at his words. "But I also have heard that you were marked." He said, his voice dropping from its slightly happy manner, and I frowned.

"I don't know what it means. Here." I pulled back my left sleeve and Dumbledore seemed to inhale quickly and let it out slowly, studying the skull. It was just a tad bit bigger than a quarter, and was only in black ink. As his eyes fell on it I nearly gasped as the mark suddenly burned hotter. Somehow, I knew that it wasn't from him, but from something else entirely-

"This mark was used by Death Eaters years ago when they found someone they wanted to recruit, whether it was forcibly or by that wizard's choice." Dumbledore said quietly and I froze. "You must have appeared 'pure' to Bellatrix in your duel."

"Get rid of it," I said hoarsely, feeling my fingertips tremble, my face pale. "I'm Muggleborn, I can't have this on me-"

"Try to relax," Dumbledore said quietly, biding me to sit on the nearest bed, so I did, feeling my knees tremble now too. That's why Bellatrix had played with me; that's why she didn't kill me. I had _impressed_ her. The notion made me sick to my stomach and panic made my mind blank. "I will try to remove it, but I cannot promise you that I will be able to. These kinds of marks were not made to be removed, but to be changed into a Dark Mark. And I must warn you, this will not be pleasant, but we should try to remove it as soon as possible."

"Just try," I whispered, and got fully onto the bed when he motioned me to. He gently lifted my left hand, placing his wand tip on the mark. Its touch instantly made me freeze and my temperature drop.

"_Abrogo. Extraxi. Amoveo."_ Dumbledore was muttering over and over again, but his voice was getting fainter and fainter as the mark started to burn cold under his wandtip, like touching dry-ice or ice cold metal. Seconds later, the mark seared with pain, making me gasp sharply and pull against Dumbledore's grip around my wrist, which was surprisingly firm.

_I was trembling against the floor, weak with pain, barely able to hear the Dark Lord walk around me. The room was dark and cold, and my nerves were screaming with pain. But this was pain I deserved, I had called that girl's bluff, and now I was paying for it. "It is unlike you to disappoint me, Bellatrix. I assume that it won't happen again." His cold clear voice filled the room, but I filled with relief, and it numbed the awful pain in my limbs. I would serve the Dark Lord better than ever this time. _

"_My Lord," I whispered, kissing the hem of his robes- _

"_Miss Wimkil."_ A voice broke sharply through the silence, making me jerk, and the dark thoughts vanished abruptly. It was like waking from a nightmare as the Hospital Wing came sharply back into focus. Dumbledore was leaning over me slightly, his eyes flinty in anger not directed towards me, but towards the tiny mark on my wrist which still remained untouched. I blinked and realized that I was limp and shaking.

"I was her," I whispered, distraught, and shocked that my identity would be overridden so easily. Incredible fear stole over me, and I almost reached for my wand. I had seen into Bellatrix's head, felt her pain, _I was her._

"I'm sorry, Miss Wimkil, but I cannot remove this for you. But I know someone who might be able to try. Let me fetch him please. Rest." Dumbledore said firmly, suddenly turning on his heel and striding away. As soon as he was gone Neville, Harry, Ginny and Luna bolted over.

"I don't believe it. That's sick," Ginny said as I slowly turned my shaking hand over, hiding the mark.

"When he was trying to remove it- we thought you were having a seizure. But then your eyes turned black." Neville almost whispered, as ghostly white as I was, and I remembered how Death Eaters affected him stronger than others.

"It's evil." I said hoarsely, closing my eyes for a second, trying to remove Harry's angry face from my mind as his eyes bored into the back of my left hand. "And it isn't your fault, Harry," I said quietly, realizing why he was so angry.

"Yes it is. None of you would have gotten hurt if I hadn't been so _stupid._ You've been marked; Hermione, Ron, Sirius, Order members, all of you could have died. Because of me." He ended jerkily in his guilt and anger, but he hung his head in shame.

"Harry-" I started, but stopped as the doors to the Hospital Wing opened again. Dumbledore had returned with…_Snape?_ Wasting no time, Dumbledore shooed everyone away, and I suddenly didn't want him to try again, I didn't want to think like a Death Eater again. I didn't want Snape to try either- he was the shiftiest and most infuriating teacher at Hogwarts. But then I remembered what Moody had said_…"Only Dumbledore would even have a chance at it, maybe another Death Eater, but certainly not me."_ Then why would Dumbledore call Snape…unless…

"No," I whispered, shaking my head, making myself sit up straight. "No, absolutely not." I tucked my left arm up into my chest as Snape and Dumbledore stopped on my left side.

As soon as Snape moved, just a little, the mark burned hard. Even though I didn't want to, I groaned and curled around my arm as the pain spiked.

"Sarah, let him try." Dumbledore said gently, but I shook my head, keeping my eyes squeezed shut. The mark was increasingly stealing my focus, burning hotter and hotter until I thought my skin would blister open from the heat.

"I can feel it. His arm." I said through gritted teeth, and I heard them both stiffen.

"Sarah, Professor Snape would never harm anyone at this school, and does not work for Voldemort. He's the best chance we have at taking the mark off of you. Please let him try." Dumbledore said earnestly, and a gentle hand touched my head, but I flinched. His presence, suddenly calming me and numbing the pain slightly scared me. Slowly, I uncurled, shaking like a leaf, and stretched my left arm out again. I couldn't bear to meet Snape's gaze, even when he drew his wand. He carefully grasped my wrist with his other hand and I inhaled sharply, my hand closing into a fist. The tendons under the mark bulged out as my trembling fist got tighter and tighter. The mark turned cold, sending ice through my veins as Snape's wandtip touched the skull. Instantly I seized up, shaking as if I really was having a seizure. I barely heard him say something and then pain exploded behind my eyes-

_I was furious, striding around my quarters, Rodolphus watching me with hooded eyes. That insolent **girl** had cost me dearly. When I got back to her, and I knew that I would- she'd pay dearly for what she'd done. I knew she was friends with **filthy** mudbloods, and I'd make her kill them all, spill their worthless blood until there was none left. Then she'd serve me until the day she died- and I'd personally make sure that every moment of her life was miserable-_

"SARAH!" A voice bellowed.

"Calm down, Potter." A voice snapped, but was obviously strained. The cold and paralyzing presence on the inside of my left wrist vanished suddenly, but Bellatrix's huge anger took longer to fade to be replaced by fear. She wanted to hurt me now-

"_What did you do?"_ the voice bellowed again.

"Harry, enough. Sarah will be fine." It took me a moment to recognize that Dumbledore was speaking now. He sounded shaken. Eager to purge the dark coldness that lingered, I opened my eyes. I was lying in the Hospital Wing, my left arm draped over my torso, hiding the mark. My chest was tight- and it was hard to breathe. Dumbledore was on my right, his eyes flinty. Harry was standing a few feet away, fists clenched, glaring at Snape, of whom I could only see his back. I didn't feel…_right._ My whole body felt broken somehow- very disconnected and weak- as if I really had been tortured like Bellatrix had- but worse.

"It is as I feared, Professor. This mark was designed to be un-removable, to keep those marked from escaping the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord. If I was to proceed further, I have no doubt that it would kill Miss Wimkil." Snape said, still sounding strained.

"What?" I meant to demand in shock, but it came out weak and hoarse. Snape whirled around, and Dumbledore started. "What happened?" I breathed urgently, trying to ignore my terror as the mark stung and smarted, being so close to Snape's left arm. I pushed myself up with a trembling arm, keeping my left tucked against me.

"Sarah, Professor Snape was unable to remove the mark as well. I'm afraid there is nothing further I can do to try and help you." Professor Dumbledore's eyes suddenly became very sad as he spoke, and he looked away from me, as if in shame...


	26. Chapter 26

26

Sarah POV

As Dumbledore finished speaking, I closed my eyes, too exhausted and emotionally confused to concentrate. It was hopeless- I was now forever tied to the Death Eaters. This mark wouldn't come off unless I joined them; something I would never do. Would Bellatrix hunt me down? Would she find my parents- just clueless Muggles and kill them? What if the hunt for me led the Death Eaters to Harry, Ron or Hermione? Slowly, tears made their way out from behind my lashes and streaked down my face as I pictured everyone I cared about affected by this stupid _mark_. "Give us a moment," I heard Dumbledore say, and footsteps left, and I assumed that he made my friends leave, along with Snape.

"Sarah, we need to talk about this mark." Dumbledore said softly, but it was strangely comforting. With a shudder, I looked at him, trying to find myself again. Ever since the mark was on my skin I felt- disconnected, like I was feeling two different emotions at once. The world had gotten darker, and it was hard to see light or goodness in anything. "I am concerned about how this mark will affect you, and how it connects you to Bellatrix Lestrange." He continued carefully. "It worries me that there is a possibility that it will affect you differently from day to day."

"You mean…with how Bellatrix is feeling? Like her moods?" I asked in a whisper, and Dumbledore's face darkened, but he nodded, confirming my worst fear, that I hadn't been imagining feeling two different emotions at once, both of them fighting for control. That combined with _being_ her sometimes was too much. I felt my face twist again, despite Dumbledore's positive affect on the mark. I hid my face from Dumbledore with a shaking hand, wishing bitterly that I was stronger. But that emotion was tiny compared to my despair. How would I keep myself, how would I go on with half of me swallowed up by Bellatrix Lestrange?

"I need you to stay strong, Sarah. You saw how Harry let his scar affect him too much last night, and it nearly got you all killed." Dumbledore said with a bit of harshness, and my hand dropped fast.

"None of this was his fault," I said strongly, pushing myself up to glare at Dumbledore. "Don't you dare blame him." Anger that was thankfully my own surged through me, making some of the other emotion (fear) back off. I couldn't believe that Dumbledore would blame Harry for an honest mistake about an issue that was bigger than all of us.

"Sarah don't you see? If this mark starts to affect you like his scar does, I need you to come and tell me. It is extraordinarily dark magic, regardless of whose fault it was." Dumbledore continued, and we looked at each other a moment and I suddenly was filled with dislike for him. Harry had made a mistake, and I _chose_ to go after him. It was my decision alone that made me go and face the Death Eaters again.

"And what about Professor Snape?" I asked, crossing my arms. "He's a Death Eater." As I said it, the mark twanged, as if it knew that I was discussing the horrible people that gave it to me. I still couldn't believe that Snape was a Death Eater. Somehow, it didn't suit him.

"Former Death Eater," Dumbledore corrected quickly. "Severus turned into a spy for the Ministry before Voldemort fell. He's been cleared by the Ministry. I trust him with my life." Dumbledore said firmly, and I looked down, uncrossing my arms to wrap a hand around my left wrist with a frown. I still didn't like the idea of Snape being a _former_ Death Eater. Every time I was near him it felt like I was being burned, and I knew that I would never trust Snape again. "Sarah, he and I would both appreciate it if you kept this fact a secret. It's not your information to share." He said, and I nodded absently after a second. Even if I hated Snape's guts (even more now that I knew who he had been) I couldn't blab about it. It would be like what he did in our third year- telling everyone Lupin was a werewolf because he hated him. I looked back up to find Dumbledore smiling dolefully. I couldn't smile back, something was bugging me. Now that my life had changed in such a bad way, I didn't want to endanger the people I cared about.

"Professor? I don't think I should be around Harry anymore." I confessed quickly, and he raised his eyebrows. "This mark- if they really do try to recruit me- and if I'm with Harry- they'd find him. I can't let that happen." I said, glancing at Harry. He was sitting between Hermione and Ron, rolling the prophecy around in his palm with a frown. He'd already been through enough; I couldn't risk putting him and my friends in danger, especially now that Voldemort would get stronger before he got weaker.

"Sarah, I actually request that you stay with Harry, Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley, no matter what it takes." Dumbledore pressed, surprising me. "Your mark will warn you always if a dark presence, especially Death Eaters, is near. For their protection, and yours, I want you to remain with them at all times possible." I looked at him, and he patted my arm with a gentle smile. I felt as if he knew something about the future and that was why he wanted me to stay by my friends' sides. It irked me. "Now, I encourage you to rest. Don't hesitate to contact me or even Professor Snape if the mark burns or does strange things." He inclined his head to me slightly, then strode over to Harry, had a word with him, and they left together. Harry glanced at me before they left, and I gave him a tiny smile, but it wasn't wholehearted. I still didn't feel that it was safe for me to continue being friends with him- regardless of what Dumbledore wished for me to do. I also didn't feel like I would _ever_ go to Snape with a problem about the mark.

"It's about time I got to tend to my patients." Madam Pompfrey's grumbling cut into my day dream. She waved her wand and the bandages around my right hand vanished. The skin was no longer red and irritated, but dark red scars, still in my flawless cursive spelled out: _I must not tell lies._ Madam Pompfrey clucked her tongue, waving her wand again. This time, a light bandage appeared around my left wrist, hiding the mark from view, and for that I was grateful. She also healed some of the larger cuts on my face from the night's 'adventures'. "Now, try to sleep." She ordered, drawing the curtains around my bed and leaving. For awhile, I only lay flat on my back, staring at the ceiling, occasionally wincing when the mark prickled. But eventually I fell asleep…

"_My Lord, please, I beg you. I was deceived, tricked."_

"_You cannot convince me with lies to save yourself, Bellatrix."_

"_My Lord, there was a girl with Potter who knew how to duel. She and I dueled until I saw Dumbledore had arrived. Her blood is obviously pure if she could even have a mock duel with me."_

"_Ah…I see the truth now, plucked from your unprotected head, Bellatrix. You marked her…interesting…"_

When I woke up later, the curtains were pulled away. I could hear Ron laughing down the ward, and the voices of some of his family, and, once and awhile, Hermione. With a sigh, I sat up, picking up my glasses and getting out of bed. I silently slipped out of the Hospital Wing and walked to Gryffindor Tower. Then I took a much needed shower, washing off the sweat and dirt from my duel. Madam Pompfrey had done a fantastic job patching me up, but I still had a few shallow cuts and plenty of bruises. As the water pounded down, I glared at the tile wall in front of me. I didn't at all regret going after Harry, not in the slightest. But I couldn't help but feel angry, betrayed and hurt. Undermining those three feelings was one that wasn't my own-fear. Bellatrix was afraid, she had made a very grave mistake, assuming that I had the prophecy. But she was relieved now; she wasn't going to be punished again, now that Voldemort knew the truth-

I slammed my fist against the shower wall, bowing my head. Water ran off my nose as I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling my back trembling with a sudden chill, despite the hot water. I wasn't afraid- but Bellatrix was terrified yet. I stayed in the shower until the water started to get cold, until I was forced to get out. When I wiped the steam from the mirror to braid my hair, I froze. I was white, despite the hot shower, and my face looked drawn. I looked at myself carefully for a long time as I braided and re-braided my hair, but I didn't change. Trying to get a hold of myself, I got some fresh clothes, and re-wrapped the bandage Madam Pompfrey had given me, hiding the mark. To me, it seemed to stand out on my wrist- totally conspicuous, but it was better than nothing. Then I walked back to the Hospital Wing and was immediately rebuked by Madam Pompfrey, who seized my forearm as soon as I walked in the door. "_Why_ would you just _leave_ without telling _anyone _where you went? You _foolish_ girl. _Sit._" She demanded, pushing and pulling me to a bed, then plopping me down and waving her wand frantically, checking for what seemed like every injury and disease on the planet. "Fine. Well." She huffed after a few minutes, obviously displeased that she couldn't find something wrong with me. "Your friends are over there," she pointed down the ward, then stalked to her office.

I got up and walked over. Neville wasn't in sight, but Hermione, Ginny and Luna were talking quietly. Hermione looked up to see me and almost squealed. "Sarah!" She motioned me over frantically, and she hugged me tight. "I was so scared for you- you were shaking so violently, and-"

"Hermione, I'm fine now. Honestly." I said forcefully, conjuring a stool and sitting next to her. She frowned at both of my hands, one with the deep ugly scars on display, the other marked with a Dark symbol that I couldn't get rid of. "How are you, Hermione? I didn't see what happened to you in the Department of Mysteries." I changed the subject, not having to fake concern.

"Dolohov got me with a strange Dark spell- I have to take all sorts of potions at certain times. But I'll be just fine." She assured me with a smile, and then started talking animatedly about O.W.L.S, and about how she was worried about History of Magic and all her other classes. At first, I felt vindictive pleasure for having blasted Dolohov with a Stunner earlier, but then I was easily sucked into the conversation about O.W.L.S.'- being worried as well, and I felt a pang of relief later; my mind wasn't dwelling on the mark. Then Ron woke up with a snort, making us all laugh, and him blush as red as his hair.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." I said, and only Hermione got it and started giggling. Being raised by Muggles did have _some_ advantages.

"Sarah! How are you? What's happening? Is everything ok?" Ron's mind suddenly shot into hyperdrive when he fully woke up a few seconds later.

"They couldn't remove it, but I'll be fine." I tried to sound reassuring, and changed the topic swiftly. "Are _you_ ok? The brain was strangling you and you were already hexed to boot." I said, remembering with a slight shudder how I had to blow up the brain to keep it from killing Ron.

"Me? I'm great." Ron said, rolling up the sleeves of his Hospital Wing pajamas so I could see the faint lines from the brain's tentacles. "Madam Pompfrey fixed me easy. It's Hermione who will be here for awhile. But what's this I've heard about you dueling with Bellatrix Lestrange?" Ron asked, changing the topic on me, making me frown.

"Um-" I started, but, thankfully, Harry came into the Hospital Wing with a very dark expression, saving me from answering. "Are you ok?" I asked Harry at the same time as Hermione.

"I'll tell you later," Harry muttered, sitting at the end of Ron's bed, still clearly troubled. "Hey, are you feeling alright?" He jumped a second later, looking at me with concern.

"Spectacular." I said it with a smile, but he still looked worried, and his gaze traveled down to my left wrist.

"Oh, I have to go," Luna said dreamily, randomly standing up. "I just saw an Ixonia go by- they are tiny little creatures that eat your earwax." She walked unsteadily away, as if following something through the air. I tried not to laugh, grinning as I watched her go. Despite how crazy things got Luna would always be Luna.

"That totally reminds me- in a weird way- Sarah, Dumbledore asked me to get all of your mail from Umbridge's office. I'll be right back." Ginny said, leaping up. "Sorry!" She called behind her, running down after Luna.

"It's alright!" I called after her, then yelped as Harry leaned over and grabbed my left hand as the door swung shut behind Ginny. "Hey-" I started then swore, pulling out of his grasp and shaking out my hand in midair- my reaction to being burned. As soon as Harry touched my skin it seared. "I'm fine," I said, sharper than I intended as I saw my friends shocked gazes. "It's nothing. You want to see it? Here." I undid the bandage and almost ripped it off, suddenly pissed. I thrust my exposed wrist in Harry's direction and he looked at it then quickly looked away. Seconds later, it was like I got a slap to the face, making me realize just how harsh I had been. I blinked several times, feeling my jaw drop in shock. It wasn't me that had been angry, it was Bellatrix. She was still angry that I had fooled her. "_Merlin,_ shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." I ranted, now feeling absolutely terrible and incredibly guilty. In the back of my mind, I wondered if it would be easy for me to turn into something like her.

"What happened? _Why?_" Hermione whispered, and I felt myself burn with shame. "You've never acted like that- not _ever._"

"It's the mark. Dumbledore was afraid that it would react to Bellatrix's mood. I guess he was right." I said softly, picking up the bandage off the floor and re-wrapping it. "Harry, don't you dare apologize." I said firmly as he opened his mouth. "Remember- _I_ chose to come after you- to join the fight again. That was my decision."

"But if we weren't even there, this would have never happened. Not to Hermione, not to Ron- nobody would have been injured. When I thought Bellatrix had killed you- I couldn't handle it." Harry ranted. We locked eyes a minute.

"Harry- everyone makes mistakes. You're only human. Now, what's done is done. We got the prophecy, nobody died. You should be proud of what we did." I said cheerfully, but noticed Harry flinch when I mentioned the prophecy, and I suddenly remembered how troubled he had looked when he came in.

"What did the prophecy say?" Hermione asked, reading Harry like an open book.

"It was about Voldemort…and me. It said that 'neither could live while the other survives.'" Harry said, sounding pained. He glared determinedly out a window, avoiding all of our gazes.

"Wait, one of you has to snuff the other in the end?" Ron asked, sounding horrified, and Harry nodded slowly, looking miserable. We fell into silence. My heart went out to Harry- learning at fifteen that you alone had to kill the Darkest wizard of all time who had murdered your parents couldn't be easy. And what could you say to someone who had that burden to bear?

"Sarah! Here. Sorry," Ginny made us all jump as she dashed back in, handing me a huge stack of letters, panting.

"Thanks, Ginny." I said, making myself sound composed, even though I was quaking on the inside.

"See you guys later then," Ginny called happily, walking back out of the wing. The door slammed behind her and echoed loudly as no one spoke. Trying to distract us, I took a letter off the stack, tearing it open and scanning it and instantly scowling.

_Sarah,_

_Are you alright? We haven't heard from you in almost two months. Your father and I are starting to become very worried about you. You know that we don't get any wizarding newspapers, God forbid, but are you alright? I have no idea if your kind of people are more **civilized,** and I've been worried that some sort of **uprising** or something has been going on. You are making me very anxious, and you know what that does to my nerves-_

I didn't even bother to finish reading the letter. I crumpled it into a ball with a sigh. Not much had changed with my parents. Figures.

For the remainder of our days at Hogwarts, I found myself becoming increasingly asocial. I just felt- out of place. Nothing seemed right anymore. The dreams and reactions I were having scared me- and Hermione. She frequently shared how I would act during the night with Ron and Harry when I wouldn't, dragging them into it too. When the day came to leave Hogwarts, I was slightly grateful. Maybe, if I left the wizarding world behind, I might just leave behind my troubles as well.

* * *

><p><strong>There you have it! Part I of Sarah Wimkil's story. She's been marked by Bellatrix Lestrange, the most vicious and sadistic Death Eater of them all. What will happen to her over the summer, happen to her in her sixth year at Hogwarts? You can find out if you stay tuned for Part II- <em>Marked. <em>****Don't be afraid to leave me a review, ok? I love hearing from you!**

**blackorchestrafreak**


End file.
